Manipulation
by SilverEcho
Summary: Why am I here? I don't even like anime!A sequel to my fanfic Manipulate or should I say continuation... Focuses around Knives so far, may change in future, but unlikely
1. Thats Nasty

**Hey everyone! I'm being a very strange individual and writing a sequel to my story 'Manipulate.' before it's finished, heh heh... but that's okay cause I know how it's going to end! I just have to write the in between parts.. (shifty eyes) but if you read it how it is now, you should be able to figure out things pretty well in this story! Anyway's enjoy!**

**Trigun (c) Nightow**

I loved warm fall days. With the leaves falling, there was a crisp smell to the air, but it was still warm enough to go without a jacket. This was by far my favorite season.

I sauntered down the walk that lead to my dorm room. The walk would be unbearable once winter came with the icy gusts, but right now I could enjoy the beautiful campus.

I had just come from a concert rehearsal in the music department. The juniors and seniors were practicing for their yearly autumn performance. This year it was Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Even though I was just a junior, I had been honored with the position of the violin soloist. I enjoyed it immensely and did rather well, but it was unnerving dealing with the grumbling of the seniors, as that honor had always fallen to one of them.

As I walked, my thoughts wandered from the performance. I idly fingered a charm on the bracelet Ed had given me. Even though it had been five years since I had come home, I still remembered everything vividly. More than once I had caught myself staring at my roommate's anime posters, wondering if Ed and Al were doing well.

My roommate, Erin, had replaced my sister Maggie as the person who tried to pester me into liking manga and anime. Maggie had long since given up, but Erin was still determined to open my eyes to their wonders. I often wondered what she would say if I told her the Edward Elric had given me the charm bracelet she adored so.

Every morning when I woke up, I would turn over and see three posters of Fullmetal Alchemist, Trigun, and Naruto. Erin also had a wide collection of keychains rattling off her backpack. She had given me one of a small creature she called a Monoka. I had to agree it was adorable and kept it happily, but politely refused to watch the corresponding anime. But whether or not I wanted it, my head was still filled with completely random facts about different animes. One could not completely block out Erin when she went on one of her happy babbles.

I paused briefly to watch some boys tossing around a football on the green. One of them saw me and waved. I chuckled as he almost got hit by the football and waved back. Suddenly raging pain shot through my head. I gasped and clamped a hand to either temple. This had not been the first time this had happened, indeed these headaches had been occurring with greater frequencey over the past few days, but it was much stronger and sharper than normal. I saw the football heading in my direction, but it disappeared as black quickly clouded my vision. I felt myself slump to the ground, faintly aware of my violin case poking into my ribs as I fell unconscious. My last thought before I completely blacked out was; "My.. this feel familiar..."

An acridly sweet smell seemed to be coating my nose. I kept my eyes closed as I slowly re-entered the world of the conscious. As feeling surged into my limbs I could feel that my violin case was still digging into my ribs. My messenger bag was pressed against my leg, but I could feel other things poking into me that could not me accounted for by my bags or by the sidewalk I was on.

Still keeping my eyes closed, I felt around with one hand, trying to figure out where I was. Under my fingertips, I could feel the rough edges of rubble. I frowned. I hadn't been laying on a damaged section of the sidewalk and I was most certainly not heavy enough to cause it by falling. Suddenly my fingertips brushed against something slightly warm and soft. As I moved my hand up this, my index finger hit against a slippery warmth. I opened my eyes, the world slowly coming into focus.

Staring me in the face was a man's corpse. He had a shocked look on his face and blood flowed sluggishly from his nose, mouth and ears, the edges drying slowly. I shrieked and shot backward in a sitting position. I hit what used to be a wall with a resounding thump. Something brushed against my cheek. I shrieked again, even louder when I turned my head and saw an arm hanging over the edge, swinging limply from my contact with it. Still screaming, I tottered to my feet and ran, stumbling over rubble, still holding my messenger bag and violin case in a tight grip, determined to get away from the corpses.

As I ran, I saw only what could be called a massacre. People of every age and gender lay about a now ruined city. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, making me nauseous. I looked up and saw on a hill not so far away the shadows of a small group of people. I changed my course and ran for them, perfectly aware that they may have caused what I was seeing. At this point I didn't care; I only wanted to see life.

Knives POV

I looked over the scene of mass destruction with dispassionate eyes. Sinners everyone of them, all guilty of killing my siblings with their insatiable greed.

My thoughts were abruptly disturbed by an ear piercing shriek coming from the midst of the rubble. It was followed a few moments later by a second, this one lasting longer than the first. My eyes flickered over to Midvalley.

"You missed one," I said shortly.

He looked back at me. I was satisfied to see fear in his eyes although he was suppressing it.

"I assure you Knives-sama, I disposed of all I saw."

My eyes flickered to my other side where Legato was, encased in his sarcophagus of sorts, still carted about by the giant whose gender I had yet to discover.

"As did I, Master."

I watched the destroyed city for a few moments, not answering.

"We shall go and find it, Master," said Legato, uneasy with my lack of response.

I was silent for awhile still, eyes roving over every ruined building. I sensed Midvalley shift uncomfortably to my right.

"No need," I finally said. "It comes to us." I gestured carelessly at the small figure struggling in our direction. Midvalley leaned forward as if to try to get a better look. Legato was silent.

As the figure came closer, I saw it was a female human, approximately 20 years old. A bag was slung over one shoulder and her right hand tightly grasped the handle of a case of sorts. Tendrils of dark hair escaped her bun and flew about her face. Her eye were dark as well and wide with fright. She stopped 15 or 20 feet infront of us, huffing slightly for breath.

I gazed at her coldly. I was slightly shocked and angry when she met my gaze, not breaking it even though she was still obviously frightened. I sniffed, lip curling in disgust.

"Kill it."


	2. Why Must I do Everything?

**I do not own Trigun, which makes me incredibly sad XD**

Eva's POV

As I struggled toward the group I saw one point at me. They obviously saw me and did shoot me or anything, so I hoped that was a good sign. On the other hand, they didn't come running to see if I was all right either, so if they were rescuers, they were pretty sucky ones.

When I reached the top of the hill, I stopped a good distance away from them. There were three of them, one of them a giant who seemed to be cradling a coffin. I shuddered slightly when I saw that there was actually a fourth man in the coffin and that he was still alive too. The man to my left seemed relatively normal. He had black hair and wore a rather nice suit. The weirdest thing about him was that he was carrying a saxophone.

The man in the middle of the group was the one I had seen point to me. He had short pale blonde hair and was well built, tall and muscular without being muscle-bound. His outfit was rather odd, the jacket and pants being made of white leather or a similar substance. The jacket had a high collar and fell just short of his waist, Underneath is he wore a form-fitting black turtleneck shirt.

However it was his eyes that most interested me. They were an icy pale blue, cold and deep. Immense hatred and anger mixed with tempered patience created a glacial, calculating gaze that made you think he was starting down into your soul and saw everything you had ever done wrong in your life and would be more than happy to punish you dearly for doing them.

He was staring right at me, right through me. I gazed steadily back, curious and wary at the same time. This seemed to annoy him, I could see it flicker in his eyes. His lip curled in disgust.

"Kill it," he snapped, making an impatient gesture toward me.

I stared at the bleached blonde-haired man with disbelief. Surely I did not just hear him say what he just said. I had not just come all the way through that nightmare or blood and death for a guy in a weird leather outfit order his flunkies to kill me. I dropped my vilolin case on the ground and was just about to tell him exactly what I thought about that idea when it struck me.

_I know this..._

Everything had the same flat, clean look it had five years ago in Amestris! The 'style' was different though, so I couldn't be back there again. I must be in a different anime. I racked through my brain, trying to remember if anything Erin had showed me looked similar to this. I was faintly aware the men were talking, but I was too busy trying to figure things out to listen.

Suddenly a wrenching pain shot through my head. I screamed and clamped my hands to the sides of my head. It felt like someone was rustling though my brain.

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" I screamed shrilly.

Knives POV

I was rather satisfied at the expression of horror that crossed the girl's face when I told Midvalley to kill her. Seconds later though it was replaced by an expression of complete indignation as she plunked the case down on the ground. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out as her eyes grew distant.

Slightly perturbed and annoyed by the fact that she had time to contort her facial expressions as much as she was, I turned to Midvalley.

"I told you to kill it!" I snapped irritably.

He had a dumbstruck expression on his face, staring at the female.

"I... I... I can't..." he choked out.

"You just killed at least two dozen people," I snarled, temper rising. "You can kill one more."

Despite my obvious anger, Midvalley dumbly shook his head and placed the saxophone down on the ground.

"I can't." he repeated in a whisper.

"Midvalley, count your lucky starts that I'm running low on knives. If I wasn't, you'd be dead by now." I snarled viciously, and turned to Legato. "Kill it."

"Yes, Master," Legato murmured in his montone voice.

The girl suddenly shrieked and fell to her knees holding her head. Tears of pain ran down her face as Legato sifted through her mind, looking for leverage.

I felt my lips twitch into a smile as she screamed to get out of her head. Screaming would do her no good. To my surprise, I heard Legato gasp in pain. At the same time, the girl slumped over shuddering, still cradling her head in her hands.

"What happened? Why isn't it dead?" I demanded.

"Master!" wheezed Legato, gasping for breath. "She pushed me out! She put up a a barrier so forcefully... I couldn't get a hold..." He trailed off weakly.

I frowned angrily.

"Vermin. Must I do everything myself..."

Turning away from my two incompetent henchmen, I pried into the girl's mind. I was faintly aware that she began screaming again, but it was faint and wavering in my ears. Instead, the dominant sound was a rush of music that filled her head. Unlike most people, her mind was not filled with images and words. It seemed to be a mix of sounds ranging from the whistle of wind and the plinking of waterdrops to grand symphonies. It was somewhat unsettling and made it quite difficult to find her control center.

Just as I was about to pull on a promising thread in her mind, what could only be described as a wall of fire rushed through her psyche. It quite forcefully slammed me out of her head, sending jolting pain through my brain and spinal chord as it did so.

I stared at the little piece of vermin huddling before me with shock and disgust. No human being had a mental power stronger than my own, no human! As rage coursed through my body, I felt the Angel Blades forming on my left arm. Just as I was about to slice her insolent head from her shoulders and rid the planet of another useless being, I was struck by a thought. If she was stronger than me, mentally, then it was possible that she was stronger than my brother as well. With a little training, she could do what Legato and I had failed to do; make Vash live a living hell in his own mind, drive him insane.

I smirked and allowed my left arm to revert to it's normal state. I stalked over to the girl. She was no longer moaning, instead staring up at me angrily. I could see sweat on her forehead and her cheeks were still damp from her tears.

"Get up," I ordered.

"Why, so you can torture me some more?" she snapped angrily.

"Insolent spider, don't try my patience," I hissed. "You will do as I say or die. Now get up."

She looked as if she was about to argue with me, but changed her mind. She stiffly stood up and looked me directly in the eye, her gaze unafraid and challenging. I ground my teeth at her behavior, but simply gestured her to follow instead of wringing her neck as I would have so loved to have done.

As I walked away from the city wreckage, I heard Legato, Midvalley and the girl fall into step behind me. My lips twisted into a sardonic smile.

'_Just you wait, Vash,' _I thought. _'Just you wait...'_


	3. Get Back Here!

**I do not own Trigun... I own PUPPIES!**

Eva's POV

Once night had fallen the small group I found myself in company with stopped to eat and rest. We had stopped by a vehicle to grab packs or supplies, but apparently it had ceased to work on the way to the massacred town since we had been walking across the desert all day. I had been loaded down with a pack, but the man with the saxophone (whose name I soon learned was Midvalley) was loaded down with almost all of the rest of the packs. Apparently he had been ordered to kill me while I was busy spacing out and had failed to do so. As punishment, he had been given the job of 'packhorse.' The behometh that carried the guy in the coffin carried two packs as well, but Senior Attitude Problem didn't carry a single thing. Other than his ego.

I spent half of the walk trying to figure out which anime I was in and the other half trying to remember the array Ed had used to send me home last time. I was more successful with the first task than the second. By the time we stopped for the night, I was pretty confident I was in the anime Trigun that Erin loved so well. I was pretty sure Blondie was the main antagonist (aren't I clever?) who, to the best of my memory, was named after a utensil. Spork or something. I wasn't too concerned about names at the moment.

I sat near a small fire that Midvalley had built, sketching arrays into the sandy ground. I could not remember all of the proper array since I had only seen it once or twice five years ago. My memory may be good, but it certainly wasn't that good. Even if i could have remembered all of it, I didn't think alchemy worked in the world of Trigun. As I recalled, Erin had described it as a futuristic Western.

"What are you doing, vermin?"

Blondie's cold voice startled me, creating a jagged line in the array I was sketching. I glanced up across the fire where he was sitting. The light reflecting off his eyes gave them an eerie glow. I shuddered and erased the stray line with a fingertip.

"I have a name, you know."

His expression quiet clearly conveyed that he couldn't care less what my name was.

"It's Eva."

"I don't care. What are you doing?"

"Ah, you want to know what I'm doing, but don't care what my name is. " I squinted at him. "Afraid I'm going to burrow through the sand and escape?"

He glared at me, but before he could say anything, I shrugged.

"I'm not going anywhere."

I looked down at the array and place my hand in the middle, obliterating it.

"- yet." I added under my breath.

After eating a rather gritty meal (the sand got everywhere) I lay down to sleep, using my violin case as a pillow. Just as I was about to drift off, Midvalley came over and leaned down next to me.

"Miss Eva," he whispered.

I opened one eye and looked up suspiciously at him. He seemed nicer than the others, but he still took part in the massacre, so I didn't really trust him either. Smiles could still hide fangs.

"Yeah?"

"Are you injured in anyway?"

I thought for a moment.

"... Nope."

"I'm glad."

I eyed him, frowning.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you concerned? And while were on it, why didn't you kill me when Ego-Tripper over there told you to?" I asked jerking my thumb in the direction of the sleeping bundle that Blondie had wrapped himself up in.

Midvalley coughed awkwardly.

"Well... ah..you resemble...my little sister... or what she would have looked like.. if she hadn't died. I just couldn't make myself kill you when you look so much like her."

"Ahh.."

I patted him on the shoulder assuring him I was fine. He looked relieved and went to his sleeping roll after bading me goodnight. Just before I fell asleep, I saw a gleam coming from the bundle across the fire. I shuddered, rolled away from it, and went to sleep.

Knives POV

The little female spider caused me no small number of headaches during the time we traveled. At first I thought she was simply oblivious to the dangers of baiting my temper. I soon realized, however, that she enjoyed testing my limits. She was also highly secretive about what was in her bags, but I often heard her open them at night to check on the contents. Somehow the travel pack she was meant to carry herself had landed among Midvalley's load. He seemed perfectly agreeable about carrying it however.

I became exasperated by the fact that I could no longer enter her mind. Since our first encounter, she had managed to put up a strong block that I could not get through, try as I may. I was unsure if she had done this subconsciously or willingly in order to vex me. Either way it annoyed me to no end.

She also refused to call me 'Knives-sama' , 'Master', or even 'Sir.' We had many an argument over this topic, me threatening her in various ways and her insisting that this was not medieval times, she was born a free citizen and she was going to stay that way. She came close to death many many times, but I managed to control myself each time, reminding myself of my larger goals. I satisfied myself with smaller acts of pain such as backhands to remind her of her place. Sadly she seemed unaffected by them.

"Hey, Sporky!"

I twitched at her salutation, but continued walking. She ignored my lack of response and trotted up next to me.

"Where are we going anyway?"

My eyes flickered down at her irritably.

"My headquarters," I finally answered.

"How much farther is it?"

"A day."

I sped up, hoping to leave her behind with the other two and save my ears. She didn't take the hint, instead speeding up as well, trotting beside me as if we were equals. I strode along, fuming quietly to myself and starting to wonder if my goal of causing Vash ultimate suffering was worth putting up with this creature for who knows how long.

It was a while before I realized she was much quieter than usual. Dead silent in fact. Curious despite myself, I glanced over at her. She was trudging next to me, her case slung over one shoulder. She stared moodily ahead, mind obviously somewhere else. A bruise stood darkly under the cheekbone turned toward me, a fading result of the last time she had been snotty.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I reached over and gently poked her cheek under the bruise. She jumped, her train of thought obviously broken. In a single smooth motion, she moved herself out of arms reach.

"What was _that_ for," she snapped, her hand to her cheek.

I shrugged, grinning maliciously.

"Freakazoid,.." I heard her mutter under her breath.

"I _beg _your pardon_?"_

"You're a freakazoid!" she snapped.

"_You little viper! Get back here!"_

With a shriek, Eva took off over the sand. I chased after her, the whole time yelling for her to get back here. She paid no attention to my demands, instead going faster. She was exceedingly fast for someone so small and carrying two pieces of baggage. As I chased her, I suddenly realized that the initial shriek had not been one of fear; it had been laughter.

Midvalley POV (just for this section)

I watched with a grin as Knives-sama chased Miss Eva across the sand, the latter shrieking with laughter the entire time. I had no idea what she had said to make him chase her, but one thing was sure: at this rate, we were going to get back a heck of a lot sooner than Knives had initially predicted.

**Pfft! Sorry, I just had to add that last part X3**


	4. Where's My Room?

**I do not own Trigun... I own a large collection of mangas that include Trigun though!**

Eva's POV

Making Knives chase me over the rocky terrain cheered me up immensely. I had been rather depressed since I had discovered the night before that my suspicions were correct. Alchemy did not work in the world of Trigun. With this door closed, I was no longer sure how I would be able to get home. My future looked bleak, spent in the company of this murderous group. Teasing Knives was a wonderful way for me to vent.

As the next morning dawned, the twin suns found Knives chasing me across the sand yet again, but this time for a different reason. When I had woken up, he had happened to nearby. Not realizing he was there when I did my usual morning arm stretch, I had whacked him in the face. Needless to say, he wasn't at all pleased. The fact that he was in no a way a morning person made the situation somewhat worse.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY!" I yelled at him over my shoulder for the umpteenth time.

"YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE, YOU LITTLE MAGGOT!"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

"WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE A SPIDER LIKE YOU?!"

"I'M NOT THE ONE WITH THE TAINTED RAP SHEET, BUSTER! I'M A HECK OF A LOT MORE TRUST WORTHY THAN YOU!"

As I ran over the crest of a rock formation, the fight went completely out of my head as I saw an amazing slight. I stopped dead in my tracks, so suddenly that Knives thudded into me. In front of me lay the remains of a crashed spaceship. It was a delicate mass of metal and wires, worn by the steady sand-ridden winds. Across the side was etched the word SEEDS.

"Ah, we seem to have arrived ahead of schedule," said Knives smoothly, brushing himself off as if he had just come into contact with something filthy. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye as Midvalley and Legato came running up. Or I should say the person carrying Legato came running up. Legato himself was just sitting there like a sack of potatoes. Midvalley tossed me my bags, which he had been carrying since I had run away from Knives without pausing to gather my things.

Knives gestured for us to continue and within a few moments we were standing at the entrance to the ship. I watched interestedly while Knives rapidly typed a sequence into a key pad and stalked through the door. As soon as I stepped over the threshold after him, the door slid shut plunging the hallway into a darkness. I froze, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

"Come," Knives ordered impatiently.

"You know, some of us can't see in the dark," I retorted, feeling my way through the darkness in the direction his voice had come from. My hand suddenly hit something rather hard and cloth covered.

"Ooo, what's this?"

"My.. stomach.." Knives' voice sounded above my head in a slightly strangled tone.

"Ahhh..." I said. "Hey, nice six pack..."

I heard a rushing of air and ducked in time for his hand to go over my head.

"Insolent spider," I heard him mutter.

By this time, my eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness and I was able to follow Knives as he strode down the hallway. We paused as he entered another sequence into the next door.

"Hey, how are Legato and Midvalley going to get it? " I asked suddenly.

"They come in a different way," grunted Knives.

"That was both and answer and completely devoid of information at the same time..." I commented with a grin. Knives shot a glacial glare in my direction and stepped into the next room.

"Look well, Spider," he said. "One such as you should not even be here, but since you are, learn the power of the Plants."

I followed him and looked around. The room seemed to be an indoor garden. A carpet of green grass stretched out to the far side of the room and here and there clusters of brightly colored flowers dotted the green. To my right I could se a tree growing tall. It was just like being outside except there was no wind.

"Mmm, nice," I said in an uninterested tone. "I suggest fans though, the air's too dead in here."

Knives just stared at me.

"What?"

"Y-you.." he stuttered angrily.

"What?! It's nice! I just happen to have seen better is all."

"Where?" he demanded furiously. "Oh wait, let me guess," he snapped before I could answer. "You probably grew up on land nurtured by one of my brethren! You probably grew up sucking the life out of a geo plant!"

"Geo plant?" I asked blankly. The words struck a chord in my head. I remembered a lecture Erin had given me on Plants. "Oh! Plants! Inter-dimensional beings that are tapped as a source of power and energy, capable of creating energy, food and even water, depending on their environment!"

Knives was shuddering angrily, his eyes flashing a dangerous blue.

"Guess what," I continued mildly. "We don't use Plants where I live. All this," -I waved my hand at the room- " grows without the help of any type being. Even humans.. though sometimes we do help..."

"Liar," hissed Knives. "This dead planet is incapable of such a thing."

I fixed him with a cold eye.

"I never said I came from Gunsmoke, Knives."

Without waiting to see his response, I re-shouldered my bag and started walking across the room.

"What are you talking about?"

Knives had apparently absorbed the information rapidly and was now striding next to me. I didn't answer him, simply shooting a somewhat contemptuous look.

"Answer me, spider!" he demanded.

"Use your brain, Knives," I sighed exasperatedly. "That's what it's for."

"You couldn't be from Earth! You're a human! You couldn't be from the time of the Great Fall! Humans aren't capable of that life-span!" A look of disgust crossed his face. "You haven't come on one of those spaceships have you?"

I mutely shook my head. His expression of disgust quickly changed to one of horror and he stopped short.

"You CAN'T be an independent!"

"An independent what?"

"An independent Plant!" He waved a hand impatiently.

"Oh, that." I shook my head. "No I'm not. Trust me, I've seen my birth video." I shuddered at the memory. "What was Mom thinking when she showed me that..." I mused to myself.

"Well would you kindly explain then?" Knives' voice was forcedly calm.

"Hmmmm... nope!" I continued across the room. From the strangled sound behind me, I guessed Knives was trying very very hard to keep his temper. Once he caught up to me I clapped my hands together.

"So!" I exclaimed cheerfully. "Where's my room?"

"I really don't care," sniffed Knives angrily.

"Okay then! I'll just sleep in your room!"

"... I'll find you a room."


	5. Music Hath Charms

**For those who don't know, Tessla is from the manga. Next chappie will have a link to a picture of Eva:D **

**I do not own Trigun**

Knives POV

I irritably massaged my temples with two fingers. After finding a room for the little brat and telling her she was stay there until I came back for her, I had developed a massive headache, which still had not gone away. What she had told me in the plant room aggravated me. Her claims made no sense at all, but her eyes had been clear when she told me. It was possible that she was a very good liar, but I had a feeling she wasn't. Not good enough to fool me anyway.

I slammed my fist against the desk. If only I could enter her mind! Then I would be able to figure out the truth of the matter. But the barrier still remained, no matter how I approached it.

I had spent the night in the bowels of the ship, trawling through massive data files I had accumulated over the last century, Maybe somewhere there was some little piece of information about a single spaceship from Earth landing on this dead planet within the last few years. So far my search had not brought up anything remotely promising. Gunsmoke had only ever had one landing and that was the Great Fall.

I stood up from the console with a sigh, my eyes feeling rather fuzzy after a night of staring at a glowing screen. Whether I wanted it or not, it was best to start the female's training as soon as possible. Perhaps as soon as she felt my full power, she would learn to fear and respect me as my other henchmen did. One could only hope.

As I walked down the hall to her room, I heard an unusual sound. At first I thought it was the wind reverberating off a structure on the ship, but after a moment I realized it was music. It was high and sweet, yet incredibly sad. The gently wavering notes made it sound as if the instrument itself was crying.

I stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what could be making such a sound. Shaking my head, as if to get the sound out of my ears, I moved on to the girls room. As I drew near the door, the sound grew louder. I slowly pushed open the door and peaked inside.

The girl stood with her back to me, her feet spread out a shoulder width apart. Her dark hair tumbled down her back, finally removed from it's messy bun. The case she had been carrying around the entire time lay open a few feet away, empty. Tucked under her chin was a violin of deep reddish brown, the varnish gleaming dully in the weak lighting. Her eyes were half closed as she drew the bow slowly over the strings, creating the wavering tones I had been hearing.

Unaware of my presence, she continued to play. After a single long, sweet note, her eyes snapped open and the song changed from one of sweet sorrow to one vibrating with life and energy. Notes tumbled out as rapidly as water bubbling from a well.

Her eyes flickered over to the door and widened slightly at the slight of me standing there. Instead of stopping however, she continued to play as she turned toward me, a smile on her face. Her fingers flew over the fingerboard with amazing precision, never missing a note.

I was quite aware my mouth was hanging open and I looked like a slack-jawed idiot, but the muscles of my face seemed to not be responding to my brain. The girl's eyes twinkled mischievously as she performed an impressive series of trills and swooping notes. Finally she finished with a single thrumming note.

"So, am I any good?" she asked un-tucking the violin from under her chin.

"What was that?" I asked, regaining control of my face.

"Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Autumn, Allegro."

"And the one before that?"

"Oh you heard that one too... Spring, Largo."

"Ah..." I lapsed into silence, thinking.

"...Well?"

I looked flatly down at her with just my eyes.

"Well, what?"

"What do you want? I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't put me in your presence unless you absolutely had to." Her voice was perfectly cheerful as she gently lay the violin in its case and placed a cloth over it.

"I have to run tests before you start your training. Come with me."

She looked up at me.

"Training? And more importantly, TESTS? Like blood tests?"

"I have to find out what your mental capacity is before I start pushing you. You're no good to me if you break."

She gave me puzzled expression. I sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm going to teach you how to use your mental power."

"Why?"

"Because."

"I'm not killing anyone."

"You're not going to." '_You'll just drive him insane.'_

She looked at me suspiciously.

"There's a catch, isn't there?" she said slowly.

"You will follow my orders."

The little spider seemed to think about this.

"Allright," she finally said. I didn't like the expression in her eyes, but that would soon be obliterated.

"Come," I cocked a finger before turning and walking back down the hall. Behind me I heard the soft pad of her footsteps. I lead her to the medical bay and gestured for her to stay there. Not waiting to see if she was obeying or not, I moved to the far end of the room and opened a cabinet. A moments search revealed the small pile of blue clothing I was looking for. I grabbed it and made my way back to the computers at the front of the room.

The little female was sitting in one of the chairs, idly swinging her legs and twirling a strand of hair around one finger. She glanced up at me, a faintly insolent expression on her face.

"Put these on," I ordered, dropping the blue clothes into her lap. She glanced down at them without making a motion to pick them up.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" she finally asked.

I raised an eyebrow fractionally.

"Let me list the ways. They are too tight, they are filthy, and they seem to be ripped in several places. And you seem to have blood running up one of your pant legs."

She grinned and stood up, holding the clothes.

"Point taken. Though the blood is hardly my fault. Where shall I change?"

I gestured to a screen in the corner while pulling out another chair and sitting down in front of the computer terminal. As she changed, I booted up the computer and pulled up several windows of data. Engrossed in what I was doing, I didn't hear her pad up behind me and jumped when she placed a hand on my shoulder. I whirled around furiously to tell her off for 1. touching me and 2. scaring the heck out of me. When I saw her, my angry retorts died in my throat.

She had pulled her hair back so that from the front I could only see her bangs. They framed her face, some of it flopping in her eyes. Between that and the fact that she was wearing clothes the same as those Vash and I had worn in out first year of life, she had a resemblance to...

"_Tessla,"_ I gulped.

"Nooo... _Eva_," she replied, wrinkling her nose.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the image of Tessla in my mind.

"You.. sit... over there," I stuttered.

She gave me a look and went to sit on the edge of a medical bed. I turned back to the computer and finished with the files. As soon as the finished loading I turned back to the girl. I was faintly relieved to see her ponytail was now over her shoulder and she was chewing on a strand of hair; it destroyed the resemblance between her and Tessla.

"Sit up straight and stop chewing your hair, " I snapped irritably.

She did as ordered and I began attaching electrodes to her neck, temples and the insides of her arms.She sat quietly during this, gazing blankly ahead. The silence stretched uncomfortably.

"Say something," I finally demanded.

Her blank gaze shifted to my face.

"What do you want me to say?" Her voice was tired.

"I don't care. Anything. You usually won't shut up..."

Her gaze flickered away again. I gritted my teeth.

"At least stop making that look," I snapped. "You look like you're a lab creature!"

"Aren't I? You're experimenting with my capacities..."

Something surged through me. I couldn't tell if it was anger, horror, or something else.

"NO! No!"

I gripped her shoulders turning her to face me.

"I would never.. I could never..."

I shook her slightly, my voice rising in volume.

"It's barbaric! It's wrong! It's what you spiders do! I would never even think about doing that!"

I continued to shake her back and forth, horrified by what she had just suggested.

"Kni-i-i-ives!" she called, voice broken as I jolted her. "I g-g-et it!"

Finally I let go of her.

"Apologise!" I snapped. She looked up at me with huge eyes.

"I apologise," she whispered. "I apologise for the human race and what ever it is that made you hate us all so badly..."


	6. The Taming of the Shrew

** do not own Trigun**

-----

Eva's POV

I quietly watched as Knives finished hooking the wires to the computer terminal. His hands were shaking slightly, though he tried to hide it. When I was sure he wasn't looking at me I rubbed my shoulder. His grip was sure to leave a bruise. Despite what Knives had said, I still felt like a lab rat and was more than slightly resentful of him using me for his own gains. I had promised to obey orders, but I fully intended to split as soon as humanly possible.

After making sure the electrode were still attached, Knives slid into the chair and began rapidly typing on the keyboard. Windows opened and flashed by with a speed I didn't care to watch, so instead I looked around the room I was in. This did little to keep my interest however, as the room was really quite bleak with the same sterile feel that all medical rooms have. Bored, I looked down at my nails and started mentally humming to myself. Somehow I didn't think Knives would appreciate me distracting him at the moment.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up at Knives. He wasn't looking at me, instead studying a green line moving across the computer screen. It was moving relatively flatly, but right behind the moving point was a flurry of peaks and valleys.

"What ever you were doing, do it again," he demanded.

Obliging, I hummed a few bars of Within Temptation's "Jillian" in my head. The green line immediately erupted in peaks and valleys. As soon as I stopped, the line was flat again. Knives pushed away from the terminal and turned to face me, forehead creased with frown lines.

"What did you just do?" he demanded.

"I was humming..." He raised an eyebrow. "In my head. I was bored, so I was humming. But in my head so I wouldn't distract you from whatever it was you were doing..." I waved a hand at the computer.

"What is with you and music," sighed Knives. I looked at him questioningly, but he didn't see fit to explain further.

A few minutes later he finished with the computer. Standing up with a faint grunt, he walked over and started removing the electrodes. I winced slightly as one on my arm was removed rather painfully.

"You all right?"

I glanced up at Knives. His face was as cold as ever, showing no sign that he had said anything even remotely caring. After a moment, I nodded mutely.

"Good."

When he was done removing the electrodes, he stood infront of me squarely.

"You've put up a mind block," he said flatly. You're going to have to remove that before we start training."

"Huh?"

"A mind block. You erected it the first time you encountered a mind probe."

I thought for a moment.

"You mean when it felt like my brain was being pulled out of one ear and shoved in through the other? When Legato was trying to kill me?"

He nodded.

"That one was temporary, meant more for removing Legato from your mind. You erected the current one after I myself attempted a probe."

I gave him a lidded stare.

"No way am I removing the block, even if I knew how. You are not getting back in my head! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"

"An idea, yes," replied Knives lazily.

"Horrible, wretched, egotistical sadist with a god complex," I snapped.

"Are you done?" asked Knives, examining one of his hands.

"No. You're a revolting, demented murderer and I loathe you, Okay, now I'm done."

"Wonderful," said Knives sarcastically. "Now as I was saying, you're going to have to remove the barrier and if you didn't put it up willingly then the best way to lower it would be..."

"You weren't listening, were you? I'm NOT going to lower it!"

"... to completely relax you senses. Once you do that, I should be able to enter your mind enough to help you completely lower it."

Knives walked toward me while finishing the last sentence.

"Ack! NononononononoNO!"

I shot backwards over the medical bed, hands clamped to my temples.

"You're not getting in my head again! It HURT!"

I was aware that my current weight distribution was going to make me fall off the edge of the bed, but with my hands clamped to my head, I couldn't catch myself. I just shut my eyes waiting for my rear to come into contact with the hard floor. It never happened.

Instead my chin was forcefully tucked to my chest as something caught the back of my head. My eyes snapped open. I squeaked in alarm to find Knives' face about eight inches away from mine. He had one leg kneeling on the bed, the other still firmly on the floor. His right hand was cupped behind my head while the left was propped against my back, preventing me from falling.

"You, Spider," he declared with obvious annoyance, "are currently more trouble then you're worth."

Despite his angry tone, he was perfectly gentle and careful as he pulled me back onto the medical bed. I eyed him warily, keeping my hands to my head. When he noticed this, he made a quiet sound that could have been either a grunt of annoyance or a chuckle. I felt the first was more likely. Moving slowly, as if I was an easily spooked horse, he put his hands to mine and pulled them away from my head.

"First," His tone had become quiet. "I can't get into your mind right now. Second, the first time I entered, it was meant to be painful. If you'll get rid of this barrier, I will enter slowly so it won't hurt at all. Thirdly, " He raised an eyebrow. "landing on the hard floor would have probably broken your tail bone and hurt just as badly."

"Maybe," I sniffed angrily. "but at least it wouldn't be accompanied by an invasion of privacy."

Knives sighed exasperatedly.

"Just do it, would you?"

"No," I sulked, folding my arms across my chest.

He made his strangled sound of supreme annoyance.

"I thought you were 20."

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 in about a week."

"If you're twenty, why are you acting like a three year old?"

"Because," I snapped. "you tick me off."

"So you respond by becoming more immature."

"No, I respond by making your life as difficult as possible."

"As I said..."

I slid off the edge of the bed and jabbed him indignantly in the chest.

"_I_ don't want to be here. If I had _my _ way, I would be at home performing in a concert hall in the greatest oppourtunity in my life so far, surrounded by people who _loved_ me and _supported_ me instead of being in this cold, drafty, ugly spaceship, being mentally dissected by a century old genocidal, hard-hearted slaughterer with a superiority complex!"

He opened his mouth to retort, but I didn't give him a chance to say anything.

"I am never going to be able to go home!I am _never _going to be able to perform! _I am never going to see my family again! "_

I could feel tears welling in my eyes at this last statement, but angrily swatted them away.

"My family doesn't know what happened to me! After a year, they'll take me off of life support! I'll never be able to go back! (1) My dreams and future have been ruined! I'm stuck here for the rest of my life! Of course, that probably won't be long at all. And of course you don't care in any way, I'm just a weapon to you... A weapon to be used until it breaks and then to be cast away."

I looked up at Knives, frustrated and seething. Before he could say anything, I turned on my heel and stomped for the door.

"Wait, you..."

I whirled around.

"You! Spider! Faceless vermin! _Insignificant female who is not fit to lick the ground I tread upon!_ For the absolute last time, I HAVE A NAME!! EVA! **EVA!** GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"

With that, I stomped out the door and down the hall.

Knives POV

I stared at the doorway through which the little female had disappeared moments before. For the second time that day, my mouth was hanging slackly. I had never imagined she was in possession of such a fiery temper. Or that it would ever be directed full force at me. Slowly, I sank down to sit on the edge of the medical bed.

What she had said about family for some reason had cut deeply. I stared blankly ahead, one line running through my head over and over again.

"_I am never going to see my family again.. and of course you don't care in any way!"_

The next two days passed slowly. I frequently searched the rooms the girl would be in, her rooms, the kitchens, the bathrooms, even the medical bay, but I never caught a glimpse of her. I came close once or twice I knew; once when I entered her room, the sheets were rumpled and the pillow was still warm. Food was regularly disappearing from the kitchens as well, so I knew she was still somewhere on the ship. I simply had to find her.

On the third day, I had just finished searching a long series of abandoned rooms. In one of them , the dust had recently been disturbed, but she wasn't there. I leaned against the wall, frustrated. This ship was so large, she could stay at least one step ahead of me at all times. I tiredly rubbed my temples with my fingertips. More than once I asked myself why I wanted so badly to find her. I had yet to provide myself with an answer I felt was true.

My thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a faint sound. My head snapped up as I strained to pick out the tones. After a moment of listening, I was sure of it. It was the violin. I raced down the corridors, chasing after the elusive tendril of music.

As I raced past the Plant room, I noticed something that made me skid to a stop. The door was open a crack and the music wafted sweetly out. Before I rushed into the room, I carefully looked through the opening.

On the far side of the room was a single Plant bulb. In front of this stood a small figure dressed in blue. I quietly slid through the door and padded softly across the grass in the direction of the bulb and figure. Even from there, I could see the Plant in the bulb pressed up against the glass quietly watching as the girl performed in front of her.

If I had thought the song I had heard before was sad, the one that was now weaving through the air was one of absolute sorrow. Under her skillful fingers, the violin wept in utter loss and pain. As I drew closer, I saw that her eyes were closed and salt tracks lined her cheeks, occasionally built upon as another tear slid down to land among the blades of grass.

I stopped a short distance away as the girl slid from the song to one as sad as the first. At a lull in the music, I quietly cleared my throat. At the sound, her eyes slowly opened and turned toward me. At the same time, the music erupted with furious tones resembling a storm. In sharp contrast, her eyes were mournful and tired as they watched me unblinkingly. As suddenly as the music had become wild, it smoothed out again. This time there was an underlying tension to it however.

We stood there in the grass, facing each other, as she completed the song. After playing the last drawn out note, she stopped and continued to watch me. She however, did not un-tuck the violin from it's place under her chin. I cleared my throat again, quite aware of the Plant watching both of us.

"Vivaldi?" I asked quietly.

She nodded slowly. The silence stretched unbearably.

"Look..." I finally sighed. "It is not my fault that you no longer have a family."

I saw her jaw tighten as she turned away from me and began playing for the Plant again. This time the song was speedy and defiant sounding.

"Hey, no! "

I jogged over so that I was now in front of her again. Defiantly she turned away, still playing.

"Look at me!"

I caught her arm, but she shook it off vigourously while performing a trill.

"Please Eva!"

She froze, wide-eyed. Slowly she lowered the violin and bow and turned to face me.

"What did you say?"

"Eva." I repeated, aware of a hint of desperation edging into my voice. I mentally slapped myself for it. "Please."

She stared at me.

"I'm listening..."

Half of me was inexplicably relieved that she was talking to me and the other half was fretting because I really didn't know what to say to her without making her blow up at me again.

"I...I...I'm... I'm glad I found you..." I finally stuttered out.

She cocked her head slightly.

"You were worried?"

"No! Yes? I don't know..."

"... I didn't think you'd care... I thought I was alone.. again."

"I did care!"

"Because I'm a valuable weapon to use against your brother..."

"No! Well you are, but..." I waved my hands in the air, getting more flustered and angry at myself by the minute.

Eva looked at me quietly, her face unreadable.

"Look... I'm not.. heartless... I am capable of emotion..."

I sighed and sat down in the grass.

"I'm not doing well.." I muttered to myself.

There was a quiet swish of grass as she sat down next to me.

"What are you trying to say?"

I looked over at her, then back down at the grass between my feet.

"I don't know..." I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "I guess... I'm sorry..."

My face felt hot and if I crossed my eyes, I could see the tip of my nose was red. I sighed and looked away. We were both quiet for a few minutes. Suddenly there was a rustling sound and I found something wrap loosely around my neck. Alarmed I looked down. The heat in my face spread rapidly when I saw the Eva was hugging me around the neck. She quickly let go however, and stood up.

"I forgive you.." She turned toward me. "But I still loathe you."

A mischievous smile spread across her face as she wiped salt off her cheeks. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch, but I stilled them as I stood up too.

"Good, I loathe you too Eva Spider. I'm going to have to burn this outfit now," I grumbled half-heartedly.

Eva laughed and socked me in the arm before stooping over to pick up her violin and bow.

-----

**Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter I know it's kind of super long... ;**

**(1) She's referring to the fact that while she was in Amestris, in her world her body was in an apparent coma. **


	7. Dance Knives, Dance

**http:// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 59819892/**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

-Eva's POV-

"Relax.. relax.. you are calm.. you are an untouched puddle of water...you are serene..."

"You know," I grumbled, keeping my eyes closed. "I'd be a lot more serene if you'd stop pacing back and forth and telling me to relax."

"Quiet, Eva-spider. Focus your mind."

"Relax, focus your mind, no wait relax again... Make up your mind man!"

"Eva..." His tone was warning.

"Fine, fine! I'm working on it already!"

I heard Knives resume his pacing.

We had come to something of a truce. He called me Eva-spider and I got to call him Knives. Or if I was feeling perky, Spork-san. But he wasn't as fond of that particular name. Using it usually earned me a death glare.

I was currently trying to unblock my mind. It had taken a while of vehement reassurance from Knives to convince me that I would not be experiencing the same levels of pain as before. The entire experience was exceedingly difficult because I had no idea what I was doing and Knives wasn't being particularly helpful.

Suddenly I felt something brush against my mind. I squeaked and felt myself tense up.

"No, no Eva-spider! Relax... It was just me.. you've started removing the barrier..."

I slowly relaxed. Again I felt something brush across my mind.

_**"I told you it wouldn't hurt..."**_

"Knives?"

_**"Speak with your mind, not with your mouth. Direct your thoughts to me..."**_

_**"Like this?"**_

_**"Yes, good."**_

_**"Umm... now what..."**_

_**"Now you finish taking down the barrier."**_

_**"Isn't this good enough?"**_

_**"..."**_

_**"I'll take that as a no..."**_

I sighed deeply and tried to relax more. We had already been working at this for 5 hours and I was tired of 'relaxing'. It was more tiring than relaxing had any right to be.

Ten minutes later I was thoroughly fed up with the whole operation. Knives' presence was still in my mind so I knew he hadn't withdrawn. Mentally I reached out and poked him. The response was immediate.

"_**Stop that."**_

I grinned and poked him again before withdrawing. I let my mind wander, For some reason I started thinking about an Olympic skating exhibition I had seen. In my minds eye, I could clearly see the skaters swaying and spinning with the music.

"Eva-spider.. whatever it is you are doing, I strongly suggest you stop it." Knives' voice sounded slightly strangled.

My eyes popped open and I looked over at him. He was still standing there, but his back was arched sharply, forcing him to bend backwards. He looked at me calmly, his face perfectly serene other than the fact it was upside down and there was a small anger vein pulsing on his forehead.

"Wow, did I do that?"

"Ghk.. Yes, you did... kindly let go..."

"Umm.. I don't know how..."

"Withdraw."

"I did!"

"Withdraw completely."

"I did!"

"Apparently not... no pressure.. but this isn't.. comfortable... it's a little.. hard to breathe..."

I concentrated hard, envisioning myself in a little cocoon with no access with the outside world... hanging in space... alone...

In a few moments I heard Knives straighten with a sigh of relief. I re-opened my eyes and looked over at him. He took his chin in one hand and popped his neck to the right and left with another sigh. I made a face at the sound of the tendons and ligaments re-alighning.

"If you don't like the sound, don't put me in those positions," said Knives, still very calm. I couldn't tell if he wasn't mad or if he was mad but trying to keep his temper in check.

"While I am gone you are to continue your training every day. Work on fully-"

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"Don't interrupt, it's rude- fully removing the barrier and become very-"

"Where are you going? How long will you be gone?"

"- very familiar with the workings of your mind. I expect progress when I return."

"Which would be _when?_"

"Don't take that snotty tone with me, spider..."

"Fine, _Sporky._"

"... I will return once my business is complete."

"Spiffy..."

"Legato will be here to make sure you do not run into any mischief."

"Oh wonderful... I'm going to be babysat by a guy hanging off the ceiling in a coffin... You know, I am 20 and pretty capable."

Knives gave me a lidded stare.

"What if he tries to kill me?"

He snorted in an undignified manner.

"He won't."

"But he doesn't like me!"

It was true. Legato seemed quite jealous of me, as I was almost always in 'Masters' presence and had a stronger psyche than him. He was half crazy already, and I shuddered to think what he would do without Knives protecting me. Not like Knives knew he was protecting me or anything...

"He knows he will be severely punished if he tries anything."

I sighed.

"Fine. But if I die, I'm so haunting you for all eternity."

"As you wish."

And that was the last I saw of Knives for two weeks.

-Knives POV-

I trudged wearily across the sand, Crimsonnails walking behind me. Every fiber of my being felt tired and angry. I had seen something I had never wanted to see, never thought was happening: the Last Run.

Right before my eyes I had seen one of my brethren brutally stripped of the last of her energy, forced into a cruel painful death. It had been horrifying, yet only served to strengthen my resolve against the verminous homo sapiens.

And Conrad... Moodily, I put a hand to the dark strip that now slashed through my hair. The fool had come to an end he deserved for withholding such important information like the darkening-hair effect. My power was not limitless, and I could no longer afford to waste it.

I paused and viewed my home for a moment as it came into view. Frowning more deeply, I surveyed the area. Something didn't feel right. I cautiously walked forward, scanning the entire area rapidly.

"What is it Knives-sama?" Crimsonnails asked.

I irritably made a shut up motion at the transvestite and continued.

Tire tracks covered the ground, relatively fresh as they had only been partially erased by the wind. As I drew closer, I saw a dark stain on the side of the ship. Alarmed, I ran forward. The door had been forced open by something, the metal crumpled like it was tinfoil. The shadowy interior of the ship was dead silent.

Cautiously, I stepped through the ruined doorway and made my way down the hall. Each door I passed had been blasted through. The hallway was scattered with debris. I forced myself to walk calmly and cautiously, even though my heart and brain were racing furiously. As I passed one door, I heard a weak call.

"Master..."

I turned and looked into the room. Legato was hanging from the ceiling, blood running down his face.

"Master..."

"What happened here," I asked coldly.

"Raiders. They hijacked the computers.. I didn't even know they were coming.. I held them off, but.. their numbers.. It was like a swarm of ants, Master... There were too many, I couldn't control them all...They shot me..." His tone was slightly whining,

"How long ago."

"A day I think."

I thought for a moment.

"Wait, where's Eva?"

Legato cowered down in his restraint.

"I...I... I think they took her, Master... Before I passed out, I heard something about.. booty..."

I didn't wait for him to finish his thought. Catapulting out of the room, I nearly ran into Crimsonnails.

"Clean up Legato," I barked at him, and ran down the hall without slowing.

I skidded to a stop in front of Eva's room, scrabbling to slow myself without falling. Bullet holes riddled the doorframe and the door was buckled in. Slowly, I walked into the room, dreading what I might see.

They room was actually relatively intact. Fragments of the doorframe crunched underfoot, and there were a few bullet holes in the wall above the bed. The wall light was broken, littering the floor underneath with broken glass.

I walked forward, trying to figure out what exactly had happened from what the room suggested. A skittering noise made me look down. A piece of wood bounced across the floor, propelled by my inadvertent kick. Nonplussed, I looked around for the source as there was nothing wooden in the room.

Not far from where I stood, lay the mangled body of her violin. It looked as though it had been stepped on and shot for good measure. Splinters of wood lay about on the floor. Quietly, I kneeled down and gathered the decimated instrument in my arms. I don't know how long I sat there, cradling it to my chest, but my legs were stiff by the time I stood up.

I made my way back to the entrance, walking with a determined stride. As I passed Legato's room, Crimsonnails stuck his head out.

"Sir? Where...?"

"I'm going to get her," I snapped coldly. "Or what is left of her. Stay here."

Crimsonnails murmured his understanding and warily disappeared back into the darkness of the room.

I quickly found the tracks leading away from the ship and proceeded to follow them.

_"Vermin, you have just made your last mistake."_

-----

**:3**


	8. Oops  oh well

**Will be in Knives POV until further notice X3**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

"I still don't see why we didn't take those plants. They'da made a pretty penny, ya know..."

I had finally caught up to the gang of trash that had taken Eva. At the moment I was kneeling under a window as I planned the best mode of attack. I didn't want to cause anything that led to her being shot in the panic; she was a valuable weapon after all.

"Idjit! Where'd we put 'em? They were too fricken big!"

I gritted my teeth. Apparently she had gotten herself kidnapped by the largest group of morons on Gunsmoke. With their numbers they could have easily made off with the plants. Luckily they were too idiotic to realize it...

A quick look over the sill assured me that she was not in the front room and I could enter causing as much havoc as I desired. Since they were a weasly looking bunch, I decided an impressive entrance, such as blowing up a wall, would shock them long enough for me to gain a little extra time.

I held my left arm for a moment, debating on wether or not I should waste any power on this. It probably wasn't wise, but I didn't have any other weapons and I needed Eva.

Right on cue, one of the men stepped out of the house to relieve himself. I wasted no time in rendering him unconscious and taking all of his weapons. For a little twit, he was certainly heavily armed. I strapped his hand gun to my right thigh and propped a rifle under one arm and a machine gun under the other. I detested using these filthy instruments, it seemed so crude, but I had no other choice.

'_Well... let the games begin..."_

I stood up and began shooting the wall and window, rapid-fire. The old wall quickly collapsed in a rather impressive cloud of dust and rubble. From the groans I heard, some of it had landed on the vermin.

_'Good."_

Wasting no time, I strode through the entrance. No one stopped me, the creatures cowering against the walls, completely suppressed by my entrance and the aura of foreboding I was sure radiated off me. My mouth twitched into a smirk.

I had just placed my hand on the door nob into the next room when something cold and hard was pressed against the base of my skull.

"Don't move or I'll blow your brains off."

The speaker was trying hard to sound tough, but I could hear the shudder in his gruff voice. I rolled my eyes.

"I think you mean you'll blow my brains _out_." I said calmly. In a fluid motion, I spun the rifle under my arm and fired. There was a shriek and thud as the speaker fell back. I glanced dispassionately over my shoulder at him. He was writhing on the floor, clinging to his leg and wailing in pain.

_'Pity. My aim was off.'_

I opened the door and slipped through. A bullet buried itself in the wall next to my head. I gave the vermin responsible a cold glare and threw the machine gun at him. It whacked into his head with a resounding thunk and snapping noise. He collapsed, his head at a disturbing angle.

_'Oops. Oh well.'_

I shoved him aside and made my way to a small shape in the corner.

"Eva?" I called quietly.

The shape responded by shifting and whimpering slightly. I took a few steps forward and called again.

"Eva, it's me Knives..."

This time a face turned toward me. I felt my breath catch in my throat.

It was Eva, but she was barely recognizable. Half hidden by a curtain of hair, her eyes were huge and scared, like a cornered animal. Bruises patchworked across her face, mingling with dirt. Her lower lip was split open and there was a bloody lump near her hair line. The blue clothes were filthy and torn into a shade of grey, hardly recognizable as clothes at all. Cuts and bruises crawled up her arms and legs, some of them still bleeding a little.

"Oh, Eva," I whispered.

Throwing the rifle to the side, I fell to my knees beside her. She flinched, pressing against the wall. She was so scared, she didn't seem to recognise me.

"Eva, it's me Knives," I repeated. "It's okay. You're going to be safe now, I promise."

I held out my arms, trying to show her that I had gotten rid of the rifle and wasn't going to hurt her. She made a faint mewing noise in the back of her throat and looked up at me. I tried to smile reassuringly, but I could feel my heart twisting in my chest.

"Kni..ves?"

My heart gave an extra, painful twist at that broken voice, like a lost child. I nodded, arms still out. Eva un-pressed herself from the wall, looking up into my face, searching with her eyes as if to make sure it was really me. There was another small whimper and her eyes started tearing up.

Instinctively, I reached out and pulled Eva to me, gently holding her head against my chest. Holding her close, I rocked back and forth and made quiet shushing noise, trying to comfort her and stop the tears running down her cheeks. She buried her head in my chest, whimpering. Her arms had wrapped around me and were holding on for dear life as if she was afraid I would disappear if she let go.

"It's okay Eva.. I'm here.. I'm here...you're safe... don't worry.. everything's going to be all right."

I could feel my eyes prickling as I held that tiny, shaking form. She was so small, like a doll in my arms. And she trusted me... My heart gave another twist and I pressed my face against the top of her head, shutting my eyes tightly.

At the sound of an alarming number of guns being cocked, my eyes snapped back open.

"I dunno who ya are or what ya doin' here, but ya must have a death wish," drawled an unpleasant voice behind me.

My body tensed and I could feel my face turn to a dark scowl. Slowly, I stood up, still cradling Eva's tiny form to me, shielding her with my arms. She had fallen silent and her eyes were closed, but she still held my jacket in a a death grip and tears still coursed down her cheeks.

"_Vermin," _ I hissed, fury coursing through my veins and lacing my voice. "_how dare you... how DARE you..."_

My rage was filling the entire building, filtering into ever nook and cranny, seeping into the hearts of all those pitiful spiders. They feared me, I could see it in their eyes, and that gave me no small pleasure. I began to walk forward, and they pressed away, shaking to their core. Only the leader was foolish enough to stand his ground and wave his gun in my face.

I smirked coldly at him. Within seconds, he hit the floor dead and my left arm had activated, sprouting Angel Blades. I turned to the rest of the group.

"Who will be next."

They pressed away from me, some pleading for their lives, others screaming that I was a demon. Unmercifully, I raised my arm and prepared to finish them all off, despite how much it would diminish my power.

"No...Knives, don't..."

Startled, I looked down at Eva. She stared up at me, unblinkingly. After a moment, I nodded and let my arm revert back to it's normal state.

"You are lucky, vermin, " I spat.

As I walked through the crowd and out into the night, the crowd was completely silent and parted before me in a wave. None dared lift a hand to stop us, so a few minutes found me walking back home, cradling Eva to me as tears streamed silently down my face.

-----

**Hope ya enjoyed it! R&R X3**


	9. Do I get a Nifty Cane?

**don't hurt me...**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

I sat quietly by a bed in the medical wing, my elbows on my knees and my mouth pressed against my clasped hands. The IV monitor beeped quietly, the only sound in the room other than the sound of breathing. My eyes remained fixed on Eva's haggard face. She lay silent in the bed, eyes open but staring, unseeing at the ceiling. Underneath the patchwork of bruises, her face was pale and slightly pinched looking. Her breath was ragged and painful-sounding. According to scans I had taken as soon as we had arrived, she had 4 broken ribs as well as a broken left wrist. I had been very careful while treating her, but could do little to stop the pain.

Heat spread across my face at the memory. By the time we had gotten back, she was unconscious. Crimsonnail had cleaned up the area quite well, so I had no trouble getting her to the medical bay. Treating her had been another matter.

I couldn't bring myself to touch her clothing, so I had washed and bandaged her around the tattered garments. The fact that I hadn't touched them did little to relieve my intense feeling of embarrassment at the entire situation.

Her arms were well wrapped and her wrist had been set in a cast. Bandages wrapped around her head and lower torso. The IV was currently administering painkiller. I had to guess how large a dose she needed based on her weight and height. Even though her eyes were finally open, I didn't think she was truly awake. She hadn't said a word, rarely blinked and her eyes didn't move, even when I talked to her.

The only motion of consciousness I had gotten from her was a random thought I happened to catch, not long after she opened her eyes.

'_I wonder how many I broke this time..."_

She had been silent, both vocally and mentally, since.

The entire situation vexed me. When I wasn't fretting about her current state, I was mentally berating myself for caring at all. I shouldn't get so worked up over the life of a single insignificant spider or get at all attached. Yet despite myself, she seemed more of a plant to me than a human. More than once I wondered if she was an Independent who had used almost all of her life source, but all evidence other than my feeling about her, pointed to her being human. Now that I thought about it, I really didn't know much about her. She never told me where she was from, what her family was like, what she had hoped to do with her life...

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of cloth moving across cloth. I looked up eagerly at the little figure in the medical bed.

Eva had her right hand to the bandage across her forehead, lightly feeling it's width and weave with her fingertips. Her eyes still looked up at the ceiling, but they were blinking rapidly as if she was adjusting to a sharp change in light, even though the light was relatively dim. As gently as I could, I took her hand and pulled it away from the bandage. I felt her flinch at my touch.

"It's just me," I said quietly. "Don't fuss at that, it needs to stay where it is."

"Knives," her voice cracked, rusty from lack of use. "Knives, where are you? Please turn on the light."

"What?" I asked, confused. "The light _is_ on... I'm right here..."

I waved a hand at her face. She didn't even blink. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"No you're not.." Her voice had a trace of panic in it. "Everything's dark... Knives, this isn't funny..."

My jaws clenched as I reached up and snapped on the over-head light. It shone brightly down on her face, with surgical precision. At this she blinked.

"It's gone grey... but I can't see you! I can't see anything!"

Panic was rapidly creeping through her voice and she clung to my hand as if it were a life line. I stared at her, piecing things together. I knew very well _what_ had happened, but I wasn't sure _why._

"Knives?"

"I'm right here," I murmured quietly, and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"What happened?"

Her voice was still shakey, but she already seemed more confident, quickly adapting to the situation she had been thrust into.

"You seem to be visually impaired."

"You mean blind."

"No, I mean visually impaired. You seem to have residual vision at the moment, since you could tell when I turned on the overhead light. Now the question is if you have light projection or not..."

"English please..."

"Is it uniformly grey, or is one spot brighter than the rest?"

"The latter."

"Wonderful. That means you have light projection; you can tell the difference between light and dark and you can tell where the light is coming from."

"...Knives, how do you know all this?"

"I don't spend _all_ my time planning the saving of my brethren. I read a medical journal on the subject about twenty years ago."

"And you _remembered_ it all?"

"Most of it. Sit quietly, you still have other injuries."

"So Wise One, impart your wisdom on a humble servant. How did this happen, and is it permanent?"

"I believe it happened because of the trauma you went through, possibly aided by the injury to your head. The second question, I'm afraid I don't have an answer for. We'll just have to see."

Eva was silent for a few minutes, thinking this over. I sat quietly, absent-mindedly rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. Finally she shifted slightly and sighed.

"Knives?" Her voice was very small.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to... ahh... get rid of me? Since I, you know, can't see or anything..."

I snorted.

"You aren't getting out of my service that easily, Eva-spider. Legato's a cripple by my hand and he's still here. Besides, I didn't spend all that time and energy to get you back just to boot you right out again."

A faint smile flickered across Eva's face as she gazed past my right ear.

"Darn..."

I chuckled slightly and stood up.

"Knives."

"Now what?" I asked in a mock angry tone. She picked up on it and grinned.

"Can I have my violin please?"

"...Ah. Yes... about that..."

"What?" Her voice went hard.

I sighed and pulled a bag off of another medical bed. Quietly, I pulled the main body of the ruined violin out and placed it in her lap. Her fingertips quickly and deftly flickered over the instrument, taking note of all the damage.

"What..." Her voice cracked. "No, this can't be right..."

She pulled it to her chest, oblivious to the danger of splinters.

"My mother gave me this... five years ago.. It was my dream... It can't be shattered..."

Those poor, beautiful brown eyes that could no longer see the damage to her beloved instrument still worked all too well for crying.

-----

**don't worry, Knives will be back to his usual, difficult self in the next chapter.**


	10. Hazel Eyes

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

Losing her violin along with her sight and the rest of her belongings seemed to be too much for Eva to handle. Over the course of the next few days, she sank into complete silence. No matter how I tried, she would not respond to me. Even when I tried to comunicate in her mind she remained stubbornly silent.

Once she got some of her strength back, she began walking around the medical bay. She wouldn't let me help her as she walked about, arms outstretched to meet any hidden obstacles, but I would walk beside or behind her. Slowly she expanded into the hall and surrounding rooms, memorizing the ship, inch by inch. Her deep brown eyes had faded into a hazel, clouded by her condition.

It was on one of these walks I started telling her about my early childhood with Vash and Rem in space. I don't know why, but I told her everything, even about Tessla and the experimentation. Maybe I hoped it would get her talking again. However, she didn't respond and I now had more pressing matters to deal with such as the hair-blackening effect.

About a week after the incident, I was standing in front of one of the plant bulbs. I stared up at my Sister, thinking darkly about the Great Fall.

"I confess my sins," I murmured, falling to my knee in front of her. "I was young and impetuous.. I sacrificed too many of our brethren..."

I looked up at her and placed a hand against the glass.

"This is not fear, this is anger. Anger against the human who steal our life force."

The bulb began to glow,

"Give me strength. It seems I cannot do this alone..."

There was a huge flash of light, filling the entire ship with its brilliance. I could feel fierce heat traveling up my arm as the plant and I merged. As the wings sprouted from my arm, I could feel my rage building.

"Knives-sama!"

I turned my head slightly at Crimsonnail and raised my hand to the ceiling. An Angel Arm morphed from my limb. The heat and rage coursing through me concentrated into the arm and shot out into the sky.

At that moment, the world entered an age of chaos. One by one, communications across the dead planet were cut off, plunging towns into isolation.

I was exhausted. Despite using the power from the plant, I had still been awake for well over 32 hours and my body was crying out for rest. I slumped down into a sitting positon, leaning my back against the wall. A tired smirk crawled across my face. The game was in play and I had made the first move. I couldn't wait to see how those pathetic vermin reacted.

A quiet noise made me look up. Eva was standing in the doorway of the little room I was in, staring blankly over my head, her hand lightly placed on the doorjam. Nervously, I pulled my cloak over my left arm, or what had once been my left arm. Now it was little more than a mass of wings and blades. I knew she couldn't see it, but I couldn't help it.

"Hello, Eva," I said quietly.

She walked forward, stumbling slightly over part of my cloak, which stretched quite a ways. She kneeled down in front of me, head cocked slightly as she detected the sound of my breathing.

"What are you doi-"

I cut myself off as she put her hand on my cheek. With her thumb, she traced my features, determining my expression. I held completely still, slightly startled, confused, and ever-so slightly pleased.

Silently, Eva moved her hand from my face to my left shoulder. I saw her face tense when she realized that my left arm was no longer a normal limb.

"Eva.." I began, but she put up her hands and shook her head. With a sigh, she stood up and walked back out, but not before I saw a deeply disappointed look on her face.

Seven months passed. I had fought Vash right before the Ark took off. He was now under Legato's watchful eye and mind, prevented from doing anything foolish. The Ark was now filled with Plants, but the sheer size of their mass prevented me from leaving the room in which they were held, as I had fused my left arm to them all. As I had predicted, the world below had fallen into lawless chaos as the spiders struggled to survive without my brethren.

During this 7 month period, I often saw Eva walking the outer reaches of the room, moving easily over the metal gridwork that ran over the Plants. She was still completely silent, but I was unsure if she was still blind or not. She had not come close to me since that first day, so I couldn't tell by looking at her eyes. Though she moved as if she did have sight, she may simply have become adept at using her other senses for navigational purposes.

_**"Mama. Mama, look."**_

_**"She's pretty isn't she?**_

_**"Why is she in there?"**_

_**"She's working. It's thanks to her that you and Mama and Papa can live. She makes our meals, as well as many other things... Let's say thank you together."**_

_**"Okay!"**_

_**"Thank you.. very much..."**_

_**" 'Koo."**_

__

_**"Mama, look! She smiled! See? She smiled..."**_

I woke with a start. The happy faces of the mother and her small son remained, hovering in front of me in the darkness. I blinked rapidly, trying to remove the images from my sight.

"Was that a dream?" I whispered to myself, pressing a hand to my forehead.

A small sound suddenly wafted across the dark room. I snapped my head up, searching for the source.

_Goodbye's the saddest word I'll ever hear..._

My eyes strained in the corner of the room. By the pale glow of my brethren, I saw Eva kneeling at the edge of one of the metal supports.

_Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near..._

She seemed to be holding the hand of one of the Plants I had absorbed. Her voice carried softly across the semi-darkness as she crooned down to the mass a few feet under her.

"Eva.." I called quietly, standing up.

I saw her head perk up and she fell silent. Slowly, she stood up, letting go of the Plant's hand, and started walking to me. She stopped a little over an arm's length away, her head cocked.

"What are you doing here? It's late..." I asked her.

She remained silent.

"Don't give me that... I know you're vocal chords are still working."

Her eyes stared past me, still clouded. I sighed in exasperation.

"Why must you be so stubborn? I know you can talk, why won't you..." I thought out loud. "Even if you were mad at me, the old Eva would yell at me instead of giving me the silent treatment."

She sniffed, obviously displeased.

"Whatever," I sighed. "Are you doing all right? Just nod or shake your head." I hastily added.

She half nodded and shrugged. I watched her for a moment, studying her face for any sign of what she was thinking at the moment.

"You know, you're very good and making your face blank," I finally said.

This got a smile out of her. I felt the corners of my mouth tug up as well, as I took a step forward.

"There you are," I smiled.

She shrugged again. Hesitantly, I reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of her face, tucking it securely behind her ear. She looked slightly startled at first, but didn't move.

"You need a trim," I teased.

At that Eva made a face and stuck out her tongue. She swatted my hand away and turned to head for the door.

"Hey."

She cocked her head in my direction.

"..Goodnight."

She nodded with a slight smile, then continued. I heard the door slide shut behind her. With a sigh, I fell back to my knees, sleep overtaking me once more.

-----


	11. Excuuuuse me Princess!

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

-Eva POV-

I could talk; sure, I had been able to talk for about six months now, but frankly I didn't see the point in it. I didn't particularly like any of Knives' minions, I was allergic to Wolfwood's cigar smoke, and if I talked to Knives I would have ended up lapsing into disgusted silence anyway. So I kept my silence except for when I would sneak into the room when Knives was asleep and sing to the Plants he had fused with. They seemed to enjoy it and I found it soothing.

I had regained most of my sight in my right eye. Enough to know I didn't like what was going on, but I felt powerless to stop it. Despite what Knives had told me about my mental capacity, I knew he was far more practiced in the art and could beat me easily, inexperienced as I was.

I hadn't liked the last encounter I had with Knives. I was determined to detest him and him being charming made that exceedingly difficult.

I was currently laying on my back in my room listening disinterestedly as the ship shook with gun shots and other signs of mutiny. I suspected that Wolfwood had finally made his move to free Vash from the cage Legato was holding him in.

While staying in my room while such acts of violence were going on elsewhere could be viewed as an act of cowardice, I had two very good reasons for staying where I was. First off, I didn't belong here. I had a feeling this was a major battle and since I technically didn't belong in this world, I really shouldn't interfere. Secondly, the sight of blood made me nauseous, so I wouldn't be any help anyway.

I scowled when an explosion rocked the airship, tipping me unceremoniously to the floor.

"Brother!"

The heart-wrenching cry was quickly followed by another explosion. I stumbled against the wall, protecting my head.

"Knives.." I muttered thickly, for indeed he had been the one to cry out. Almost as if in a trance, I shoved myself against the door and stumbled out of the room and down the hallway in the direction of the fighting.

I clamped a hand over my nose as my feet slipped in something slick on the floor. I didn't want to know what it was, so I just moved forward without looking down.

"KNIVES, STOP!"

I could see Crimsonnail standing at the edge of a drop. Slowly I made my way to the edge as well, intime to see Knives come back up. Something dark and reddish was on him, but I knew it wasn't his blood. I wrinkled my nose at the smell and took a step back, delicately placing a hand over my nose.

Knives looked very tired and sad, staring down at the ground almost as if he were looking for the answer to whatever was troubling him in the filthy deck. When he heard me shift, he looked up at me.

"Eva.. you're alive... good..."

He took a few steps toward me, his right hand outstretched. I took a step back, eyeing him coldly.

"Hypocrite..."

He stopped and blinked a few times at me.

"Eva.. you finally spoke... Wait, what did you call me?"

I lowered my hand from my face.

"You are a freakin' hypocrite, Knives."

His eyes were wide and confused.

"Wha... what do you mean?"

I waved my hands at the wreckage.

"You fight the humans because they drain your brethren of their energy, correct?"

Knives nodded, still with the expression that he had just been slapped in the face.

"Then what do you call what just happened here? What you've been doing the past few months?"

Knives opened his mouth to answer, but I waved a hand to make him be quiet.

"You fused with your brethren to save your sorry hide," I snapped, voice dripping with vemon. "You used their energy, Knives. You drained them, _exploited them._ For absolutely nothing. I don't know what you thought you'd achieve, but you obviously didn't gain it."

I could sense anger and resentment building in Knives' face, but I continued anyway.

"Thank to you, not only has the planet been plunged into chaos, sending my decendants to their deaths, but you've also killed off those you were going to save! You're a filthy hypocrite!"

Knives towered over me. I stared up at him, unafraid. I thought he was going to slap me, but in my rage I didn't care.

"You have no idea what I am trying to achieve," he hissed. "You don't know what they've done to us..."

"Yeah, I do," I snapped. "Tessla, right? Guess what Knives, that was a long time ago. That was an _accident_. It was wrong, it was sick, but it's in the past! Rem begged you to forgive her! She loved you and Vash, Knives! You threw that away! You stole it from your brother! You're a bloody fool!"

Knives looked shocked. Before I knew what was happening, he was standing right in front of me holding me tightly by the shoulders.

"You can't possibly understand what that was like for me," he hissed. "In one moment having your world fall down around you and realize that you're never going to be accepted."

I slapped him across the face.

"ACCEPT YOU? You've never given them the chance, Knives! Not everyone is going to accept you! Not everyone accepts everyone else! That's just how life is! So what if not everyone treats you fairly? Everyone goes through it! Do you think _I_ have been accepted by everyone in the world?"

He opened his mouth, a shocked look etched into his face.

"News flash, I _haven't!_ In highschool, I was picked at and laughed at and ignored! But I didn't turn into a psychotic killing machine! Life's tough, people can make you miserable! So you hold on to the people how make you happy, who accept you, _who love you_. That's what being accepted is about! But you never gave it a chance! You killed the one human who loved you, and from the sounds of it you alienated your brother too!

And by the way, don't even think about saying that Legato and Mister Cross-dresser over there accept you. They'd kill their own mothers, so it's hardly a complement.

A word to the wise, Knives. If you want to be accepted, you better start accepting other people too."

Knives opened and shut his mouth a couple times. I watched him silently, arms folded across my chest.

"You... I ..." he stuttered.

Completely exasperated, I threw my hands into the air and stomped away from him. During my rant, Crimsonnail had stealthily sneaked off somewhere. Probably afraid of getting in the way of Knives' rage at the insolent little spider. I was, quite frankly, expecting a blast between my shoulder blades.

"Eva..."

I stopped at the mournful call from behind me. I had most certainly not expected that.

"Eva..."

"What."

"Don't do that... don't walk away from me..."

I spun on my heel and glared at him. He had a rather pathetic expression, though I was quite sure he was unaware of sporting it. Hesitantly, he walked toward me, his hand outstretched in a pleading gesture.

"I just lost my brother... please don't make me lose you too..."

I looked at him coldly.

"Losing your brother was hardly my fault. You did that on your own."

The outstretched hand clenched.

"Don't mock me; he made his choice."

I smiled mockingly.

"Quite a choice. You force him to fight but tell him not to use his power. Hardly the loving sibling are you?"

I turned away from him again and started picking my way back through the rubble.

"Don't worry, you still have your pawn." I called over my shoulder. "I'm not stupid enough to jump through the hole in the floor and plunge two hundred feet onto the desert. I'd like to be alive to enjoy my freedom."

"You're really ungrateful, you know that?" snapped Knives.

"Oh I'm sure," I smirked. "Well please _excuuuse_ this pitiful spider."

I stalked away from him, well aware of the silence.

-----


	12. Thoughts

**I'm going to deviate from the books now, cause quiet frankly I can't manipulate the material in the direction I want. :D**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

For the most part, Knives and I avoided each other the next few days. The Ark continued on its way across the planet, gathering more Plants. I knew this meant Knives was still absorbing them into his left arm.

I leaned against the railing, enjoying the breeze tickling my face. As much as I wanted to leave, I knew I had no choice but to stay where I was.

"You."

I blinked slightly at Crimsonnail's customary greeting.

"Yes?" I asked, turning so I could see him, determined to be polite.

He glared at me with obvious hostility.

"Master Knives requests your presence."

I arched an eyebrow fractionally.

"Don't you mean demand? Request usually implies the word 'please.' "

Crimsonnail's eye twitched slightly.

"It was a request."

He grabbed my arm and dragged me off to a room. I sighed and let him, knowing it would do me no good to struggle out of his tight grip. With great theatrics, he opened a door and tossed me inside, slamming the door behind me. I rolled my eyes and stood up, brushing off my pants.

"Are you all right?"

Knives' wry voice came out of the darkness to my left. I straightened and turned my good eye to him.

"Oh peachy. Someone took too many drama pills this morning though," I said, busily straightening my sleeves and brushing my hair into place so that I wouldn't have to look at him.

"Sooooo.. what did you want anyway."

There was a rustling sound as Knives shifted in his seat.

"...I wanted to talk to you."

"Shoot."

"... I beg your pardon?"

"Highschool colloquialism," I said, fluffing my ponytail. "It does not mean I want you to shoot me, it indicates that I am listening and you can go ahead with whatever you wanted to say."

".. You couldn't have just said that in the first place?"

"Nope. What do you want?"

"First of all, I would like to see your eyes."

I slitted said features.

"Why?"

"I am concerned over your current state of health. Come here to the balcony so I can see them."

I stayed where I was.

"Eva," His voice went slightly hard. "That was an order. Might I remind you that you promised to obey all orders?"

I sighed and shuffled up, stubbornly keeping my eyes to the ground. I stopped in front of him and looked down at his boots. They were actually quite nice boots...

"Eva..." He sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

A pair of hands cupped my jaw and pulled my face up. I quickly looked over to Knives' left arm. It was whole and smooth again, no trace of any Plants. Wide eyed, I looked up questioningly at his face.

Carefully, he manipulated my head around so that he could clearly see my eyes. He frowned slightly, rubbing a thumb under my left eye.

"Your right eye's okay, but your left..." he muttered.

"Is still blind," I said matter-of-factly, pulling my head out of his hands.

He let his arms drop with a sigh.

"I thought so. It's still a hazel-gold color."

I silently stared at him, waiting for him to continue with whatever it was he wanted to say. I could tell he was thinking about how to say it since he was chewing the inside of his cheek, an unfortunate habit of his.

He shifted his gaze from me to the scenery passing slowly by, a wrinkle creasing his forehead. The minutes of silence stretched.

"Am I really that horrible in your eyes?" Knives finally muttered.

"What?"

He sighed and leaned on the railing, letting the wind hit his face.

"I've never done anything to you really... and yet you looked at me with such hatred."

He closed his eyes, the frown lines deepening. I thought for a moment then walked over and leaned on the railing as well.

"Think of it this way," I began. Knives turned his head slightly toward me, but kept his eyes closed.

"You are fighting to free your species. Understandable, although I find your techniques distasteful. But as you are saving your brethren, you're killing off mine. Can you see how I might manage a hateful look out of that?"

"I suppose," he said quietly, running a hand through his hair in a resigned manner. He sighed deeply and lay his head on his clasped hands. Feeling somewhat sorry for him, I patted his shoulder. I felt him tense up briefly at my touch.

Despite myself, I smiled slightly. Knives' face was so open right now. The anger that usually creased the corners of his eyes was gone, almost giving him an innocent look. Realizing that I was watching him, he looked over at me, our eyes locking. We stood there for I don''t know how long, simply staring at each other.

Suddenly Knives straightened and strode out of the room, the door shutting firmly behind him. I sighed slightly and looked back at the landscape passing by.

-Knives POV-

I leaned against the wall right outside of the door, my hand pressed against my head.

_Bad thoughts! Bad Knives!_

I berated myself thoroughly for the thoughts that had happily prance across my mind in the space of the last few minutes.

_She is a spider! __Not your equal!__ Despite how much you want to ki-! Stoooop... nooo... Bad Knives!_

I shook my head vigourously to get rid of any unwanted stray thoughts and strode purposely down the hall, vowing that I would stay away from the little spider for as long as possible.

-----

**giggle**


	13. A Different Approach

**I'm going to deviate from the books now, cause quiet frankly I can't manipulate the material in the direction I want. :D**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

_'Well... that didn't last long...'_

Less than 48 hours later, I found myself checking the safety harness strapping Eva to a chair. I was about to land the Ark on a barren stretch of desert and wanted to make sure that she wouldn't die in the attempt.

"This isn't necessary," she insisted hotly, struggling against the straps.

I cuffed her head lightly.

"If you wish to fall, crack you head open, and go permanently blind, by all means go ahead," I said shortly. "One fewer spider to worry about."

She glared at me and sank sullenly back into the chair, folding her arms across the harness.

"You didn't make me do this when the Ark took off," she grumbled.

I began typing commands into the computer.

"Landing is quite likely to be far rougher than taking off," I replied calmly.

"Why aren't you strapped in then?"

"I am of a superior race that does not injure as severely or easily as _Homo_ _Sapiens_. Besides, I must control the computers."

"... What about Bluesummers and Crimsonnail? Why aren't they strapped in?"

My hands haltered for a nanosecond over the keyboard, then continued their dance.

"I am not concerned about them. They have already proven to be tough enough to withstand a jolting."

"And I'm not?" Her tone was obviously supposed to be insulted, but I could hear something else in it.

"Don't push your luck," I said in a fed up tone. "Sit quietly and don't bother me right now."

Eva shot me a dirty look and settled back in the chair, in a very grudging manner. I ignored her and went back to the computer.

My finger hovered over the keyboard for a few moments as I watched the cursor blink on and off. On off. Yes no. Black and white with no shades of grey.

Was this truly the right thing? Landing the Ark practically shouted to the planet that I had given up. That I had forsaken my brethren, left them for dead.

And yet I couldn't continue either.

Angry and frustrated with myself, I clenched my jaw and slammed my finger against the key.

_**Landing sequence activated. Please stand by.**_

The females voice from over 150 years ago announced my decision to the entire ship. With a groan of machinery, the Ark readied itself for what promised to be a rough landing. I gripped the back of Eva's chair i none hand, while typing in commands with the other.

"Hold on tight."

I wasn't giving up...

...I was just trying a different approach.

-----

**A different approach, huh Knives.**

**Knives: Shut up woman.**

**do you job Knivesey.**

**Knives:.. I hate you.**

**yes i know, we go over this everyday.**

**Knives:... Rate and review.**

**please. you mean please.**

**Knives: No not really.**


	14. Fun Stuff

**A little bit of crack :D**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

"Well that went well."

I paused in my activity of removing the safety harness keeping Eva in her chair. I squinted at her suspiciously.

"Was that sarcasm I heard?" I asked waspishly.

She blinked innocently at me.

"Now why would I be sarcastic about such a superb landing?"

"Don't give me that look, you're hardly innocent," I replied, resuming my work on the harness.

"Sure, we lost a small section of the Ark on impact, but nobody died, which is good right?"

"Eva-spider…" I paused as I unbuckled a particularly stubborn strap. "One of your most, shall I say irritating characteristics is that I can't always be sure if you're being sarcastic or not."

Freed from the constraints, Eva happily stood up and stretched, nearly whacking me in the face in the process.

"I know. It's great fun."

She grinned in a highly mischievous manner. I glared at her, one hand held over my nose in a protective manner.

"Why are you holding your nose?"

"Because you reek."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"You're not dragging me into one of those arguments."

"What argument?"

"The kind that goes back and for with 'Did not, did too' until judgment day."

"…Spoilsport. Bet you're a riot at parties."

"You honestly think I would go to one?"

"True. You're too seeeriouuuuuus."

"I have more important things to deal with rather than such frivolities."

"In other words, you're a fun sucker."

I launched myself at her. With a shriek Eva dodged and hid behind the chair. When I came after her, she ran in the direction of the door, obviously intending to lose me in the maze of the ships passageways.

"Oh no you don't!"

I ran and caught her right before she reached the door and put her in a headlock.

"Who's a fun sucker?" I demanded.

"You are!"

"Wrong answer," I smirked.

Keeping her in a headlock, I proceeded to give Eva the noogie of a lifetime.

"Nooooooooo!" she laughed. "No noogies!"

I grinned evilly and continued.

"Who's the fun sucker?"

"Not you! Not you!" she gasped between laughs.

"Very good," I smirked and released her.

She sat down on the floor catching her breath. Still smirking, I went to the computer ad ran a systems check to make sure none of the computers had been harmed by the landing. Things were quiet for a few minutes.

"Glomp attack!"

A sudden force ricocheting into my back made me take several steps forward, bracing myself against the computer console to keep from falling. When I regained my sense of balance, I looked over my shoulder, right into the grinning face of Eva. She had locked her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist in a way that was reminiscent to a small primate.

"What the h-!!"

She smirked at me.

"Giddup."

"I will not! Do I look like a tomas to you?"

She snicked.

"Maaaaybe."

"Get off me."

"Why?"

"You're going to give me a hernia, that's why."

"I didn't know plants could get hernias."

I grunted at her, busy trying to pry her arms off my neck. She clung voraciously, forcing me to give up and ignore her, which was difficult. You try to ignore a 95 pound weight clinging to your neck. Still, I managed to finish the systems check. Once I finished, I went to check how Crimsonnail and Bluesummers had fared during the landing. I strode purposefully down the halls, Eva still clinging to my back.

"How long are you going to cling to me?" I finally asked.

"Until I get bored."

"Which will take how long?"

"Awhile."

"Oh joy."

"Knives-sama!"

Crimsonnail ran toward me, but stopped short when he saw Eva clinging to my back.

"Sama, what are-"

I raised my hand.

"Not a word."

"Understood sir."

-----

**I was going to make this longer, but then i though.. "nah"**


	15. Truth

**To TheNuclearDwarf. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING! It really made my day! sniff I'm touched that you think this is awesome, so thank you!!**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

_"Knives... Aren't you trying to bear this all by yourself? Tessla's story must have been a shock to you. I'm sorry, but I just feel like you're forcing yourself to bear this calmly."_

_"Forcing myself? I am. It was a shock. It was a shock but... we have to go on.. right? There's so much we have to do... so that it never happens again._

_Rem...thank you..."_

-Eva's POV-

"Knives! Hey Knives!"

I stared down over the unmoving plant. I had been looking for him all morning, and had finally located him in the plant room, laying on his back with a book over his face.

"Knives! Sporky!"

Standing with a foot on either side of his hips, I reached out a hand to lift the book from his face.

"Touch that book and you will die."

I grinned.

"Sporkums wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?"

"Don't call me Sporkums," Knives grumbled, pulling the book down so that his eyes were showing. He eyed me wearily. "Or Sporky," he added, as an afterthought.

I flopped down in a sitting position next to him and leaned my cheeks against my hands. Knives stared at me coldly for a few moments, then replaced the book over his eyes.We were both silent for a while.

"Knives?"

He was quiet for such a long time, I thought maybe he had fallen asleep, but finally I heard him sigh.

"Yes?"

"If I ask you something, will you be completely honest with me?"

I saw him tense up, but when he spoke, his voice was as calm as ever.

"It depends on the question."

I stared at the grass sticking between my spread-out fingers, trying to decide which question to ask fist. I heard Knives make an impatient noise in the back of his throat.

"Well, fist of all," I finally said. "why the change in tactics?"

"Because I felt they were the wrong track to take."

"So you're giving up?"

"No."

"Then what are you going to do now?"

Knives was silent for a long time.

"I don't know," he finally admitted in a quiet voice. "My path has a curve in it that I cannot see around."

"You could try to help humans so that they wouldn't have to depend so heavily on plants," I offered in a timid voice.

Knives pulled the book off of his eyes again and glared at me coldly.

"And how, pray tell, might such a feat be accomplished on this God-forsaken dust bowl excuse for a planet?" he asked, his voice dripping with disdain. But despite his hostile tone, he looked interested.

"Solar energy!" I replied happily. "Where I'm from, some people use solar energy to heat their homes and run small generators!"

He looked at me sceptically.

"It's true!" I insisted hotly.

"If that were true, I would have heard of it," Knives said wearily, replacing the book over his eyes. "It's Lost Technology. Solar generators haven't been used since... since Earth..."

His tone grew thoughtful. Suddenly he sat up and grasped my forearm. I yelped from the sudden movement and pressure on my arm and tried to squirm out of his grip.

"Eva!" he said in an intense tone. "Eva, tell me! Where are you from?"

I didn't answer, instead redoubling my efforts to squirm free. His grip tightened.

"You're hurting me!" I cried out as I felt the circulation being cut off in my arm.

"Answer me!" His tone grew even more insistent and angry. "Eva, this is important!"

"No it's not!" I cried, thrashing the best I could. He quickly grabbed the wrist of my other hand to prevent me from prying off his fingers. "I can't go back!"

"Why can't you go back?" he shouted back at me, struggling to keep me where I was. "I can take you anywhere on the planet, so why can't you go back?"

"Because!" I yelled, frustrated.

"That's not good enough!"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Why won't you trust me?" Knives shouted furiously. "I want to know the truth! Why won't you trust me and give me that?"

I froze and slowly looked into his eyes. They stared back at me, intensely blue and hurt.

"I just want you to trust me." he said in a much quieter tone, loosening his grip.

I slumped down, defeated. Knives' grip turned from one of restraint to one of support.

"Now tell me," he said in the same quiet tone. "Who are you and where are you from."

I bowed my head, looking down at the blades of grass instead of Knives' face.

"Evangeline Kathrine Lenar." I said quietly. "Born April 21st, 1987, Conway, New Hampshire, United States of America, Planet Earth."

Knives' grip neither tightened nor loosened, but the silence stretched. Uneasy, I kept my head bowed.

"I see."

I dared a quick glance up at Knives' face. He was looking down at me with an odd expression. Confusion and pity were battling against his normal impassiveness for hold over his face. Finally he sighed and let go of me.

"And that's the truth?"

I nodded.

"Are you over five hundred years old, or did some other occurrence lead you here."

I could tell he was forcing himself to be calm and rational about the entire thing.

"I.. I was walking to my dorm room.. and I fainted.. and woke up in that town we first met in..."

"I see. And was this the first time this ever happened?"

"No... it's happened once before."

"And did you remain in that time frame, or did you manage to return home?"

"I managed to get back home, but you see where I was last time, you could perform alchemy and I got sent back with a special array, but I've already tried it here and alchemy doesn't work here so I don't think i can get back this time!"

I said all this very rapidly, so it took Knives a few moments to process all the information I had just dumped on him.

"I see..." he finally said slowly. "And this is all the truth..."

"Yes!" I said impatiently. "See this is why I didn't want to tell you! You don't believe me do you?"

Knives acted as if he hadn't heard me. He gazed at me, still thinking about what I had said.

"Well," he finally said. "There are a few gaps in my comprehension, but I'll ask about those later. Right now, I would like to know just one thing."

"What?" I asked tiredly.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Now that I know, I can try to help you."

I felt my mouth drop open.

"A-are you serious?" I stuttered. "You're going to help me get home?"

Knives nodded.

"I promise I'll do what I can."

I threw myself at him, The force of my momentum forced Knives to rock backwards almost to the point of falling over.

"Oh Knives, thank you thank you thank you thank you!" I cried, hugging him tightly.

"Eva, what are you doing?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"Hugging you," I said happily. "Oh thank you so much!"

"If you want to thank me, let go."

I slowly let go and sat back on my heels. Knives' face was a bright red and hosted an expression of both awkwardness and being faintly pleased.

"Well," he coughed. "To start with, you're going to have to tell me everything about the last time this happened so that I can hopefully understand this better. Leave no detail out, understand?"

I nodded vigourously.

"Good. now I am going to go attend to business right now. We will begin compiling data tonight." he said, standing up.

I nodded again and watched as he strode across the grass and out the door.

I flopped back in the grass, smiling happily. As I stretched my hands above my head, I felt something hard and rectangular. It was the book Knives' had been reading, or should I say, the book knives had been using as an eye mask. Curious, I picked it up and examined it. The title read;

"_Gulliver's Travels."_

_**----**_

**So what did you think, eh? It's much longer than the last two chapters, I'm pleased to say. But of course you already knew that.**

**So you know, I expect the story will end around chapter 20.**


	16. Unexpected

**I was planning on doing a cliffhanger in the middle of this chapter, because it was the perfect spot. But then I decided that would be mean. Instead I will ask you to pause for a few moments after reading the line" **I had just gotten a wonderful idea." **and think about what I had written before that and guess what was going to happen next. :D**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

_-_Knives POV-

"So this country Amaryllis-"

"Amestris!"

"Amestris, was actually from something called an anime from Earth-

"An anime and a manga."

"Would you please let me finish this thought? -And it was supposedly an alternate universe for the past."

"According to the anime, yes."

"But you were trapped in the anime version."

"It was more of a mix of both the anime and the manga."

"Okay... Now according to you, all the events on Gunsmoke are in an anime called Trigun."

"Yep."

"Just in curiosity, who won the final battle, Vash or myself?"

"KNIVES! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

"Okay, I get the point... It was just a question, jeez..."

With a yawn, I stopped the recording I had made of the first data compilation. It was the easiest way to get accurate information and later pick out the important facts. I had been listening to the conversation over and over all day.

I stood and stretched, yawning again. I glanced at the computer screen. On it, Eva's face jittered slightly, frozen in an expression of indignation. I chuckled quietly and closed the window.

Thoughts running through my head at break-neck speed, I wandered the corridors of the ship. My body was tired, but my mind was too busy and wouldn't let me rest. Around two in the morning, I found myself right outside of Eva's room. I hesitated a few moments, then carefully pushed open the door and slipped in.

The faint light from the hallway spilled across the floor and highlighted the bundle of blankets on the bed. I walked softly across the room, my boots making almost no noise against the floor. Moving very carefully, I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the blankets away from Eva's face.

Why does everyone look more innocent when they are asleep? The small creases that often lined the corners of Eva's eyes had smoothed out, erased by the relief sleep brings from worries. Her mouth was pursed into a small pout and open slightly. The corner of the blanket fluttered slightly from her slow even breaths.

I smiled slightly as she murmured in her sleep and her hand clenched slightly on the violin bow. The bracelet she always wore glinted slightly in the faint light.

I had asked her about it once. She told me a very good friend had given it to her. The more I learned about her stay in Amestris, the more I suspected that Edward Elric had given it to her. She may have been oblivious to it, but from what she had told me, I had the sneaking suspicion he had been quite fond of her. For some reason this irritated me.

I sighed and gently pulled a strand of hair out of Eva's face. This little human had certainly led me for a loop. Always around, almost never telling me outright when she thought I was acting badly, instead choosing to give me disappointed looks that made me squirm. Me! The great Knives Millions being effected in this way by a human! It was preposterous, yet it was happening. I couldn't understand it.

And I couldn't understand why I felt so protective of her. Whenever she yelled at me, I felt ashamed. Whenever she cried, I wanted to hold her. Whenever she laughed or smiled or touched my arm, I was filled with warmth.

I groaned and rubbed my forehead. This had to stop. I was starting to act like a human myself, which would never do. I vowed that I would send her back to her home as soon as possible. Maybe then I could find some peace and return to my goal of extermination the human race.

Just as I vowed this to myself, something warm shifted into my lap. I looked down to discover Eva had found a pillow that she apparently liked better than the traditional cloth and feathers. I felt heat spread across my face and knew that I was probably exhibiting the distasteful human action of blushing.

Moving very carefully and slowly, I lifted her head off my lap and nestled it among the blankets. She gave another sleepy murmur and rolled over. Her grip on the violin bow loosened and it fell to the floor. I lunged forward and caught it before it could land and wake her up. Then again, maybe I shouldn't have worried. She had slept through the Ark taking off.

I quietly made my way back to the door and closed it behind me. I then realized I still held the bow in my hand. I looked down at it dispassionately for a few moments. Suddenly, a smirk crawled across my face. I had just gotten a wonderful idea.

-

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Go ahead. My hands are over them so you won't be able to see anything anyway."

I very gently led Eva into a room, walking behind her and my hands firmly in place over her eyes.

"You disappear for a week without a word, and then come back acting like you have a big secret, and then drag me over the ship with your hands over my eyes." she said amusedly. "Need I remind you, I'm still legally blind in one eye?"

"Legally blind," I retorted. "just means everything is exceedingly fuzzy. I don't want you to see anything at all until the right moment."

Eva sighed in mock exasperation.

"So when will the right moment be, pray tell?"

"Right now," I whispered in her ear and slowly removed my hands from her eyes. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, adjusting to the change of light. Her mouth slowly dropped open. I chuckled.

"Do you like it?"

"Oh Knives..." she whispered walking forward.

Carefully propped up on a music stand, a honey-varnished violin gleamed in the overhead lights. Eva put out a hand to touch it, but then pulled back as if she was afraid it would vanish if she touched it.

"Go ahead," I said softly. "Take it."

Slowly, she moved her hand out again and grasped it by the neck, drawing it back to her. I walked up behind her and handed her the old violin's bow.

"It's been too quiet around here," I said and stepped back.

Eva's shoulders were bowed over the instrument, shaking slightly.

"Play, Maestro," I whispered.

Moving haltingly, she placed the violin under her chin and drew the bow across the strings.

"You even tuned it," she murmured, before launching in a sweetly sad song. I stepped back further and watched as she played song after song, her fingers slowly becoming more limber, the bow's path becoming less halting. Finally after almost half an hour, she stopped.

"Oh Knives, how can I ever thank you. First helping me find a way home and now giving me this..."

I shrugged, arms folded across my chest.

"You don't seem whole without music, " I said in a couldn't-care-less tone.

Eva turned toward me, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"What can I do for you? How can I thank you for what you've done for me?"

There were one or two things that crossed my mind, that would make everything completely worthwhile, but I suppressed the thoughts.

"Nothing," I said gruffly, turning my head to the side with a bored expression. "I did it because I wanted to and I don't want payment."

Within two seconds, I felt something wrapped around my ribcage. Faintly alarmed, I looked down to see Eva had abandoned the violin and was hugging me tightly around the waist, face buried in my solar plexus.

For a moment I struggled internally on how to respond. As far as I could see, I had three options; stand stiff as a board and let her hug me, pry her off and run, or hug her back. Option three won out.

Cautiously, I wrapped my arms around her thin shoulders. She stiffened slightly at first, but then relaxed against me. I stayed very still, neither wanting to let go nor to keep holding her.

After a moment that seemed an age, Eva pulled away and flashed a brilliant smile at me. Then with a flick of long brown hair, she had disappeared down the hall with the violin.

_**----**_

**So, what did you think Knives was going to do, eh? Or did you forget and charge through without pausing to wonder? XD Well as long as you liked it, I won't complain XD**

**Hee hee, for those who don't know "Amaryllis' is a type of flower XD In the flower world, it means that the giver finds the one receiving it a rare beauty. Okay, being quiet now.**


	17. When You Taught me How to Dance

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

-Eva'sPOV-

The next few days were amazingly happy ones. Knives had gathered all the information he needed from me and point-blank refused to let me hang around while he was researching. He said it was distracting, though I couldn't imagine how since I always stayed very quiet.

So instead, I spent my days either reading or playing my new violin to the plants aboard the ship. From time to time Knives would come and find me, either to make sure I was behaving or to verify some information he wasn't clear on. I didn't see Legato or Crimsonnail around the ship, for some reason. I asked Knives about this one time that he checked up on me.

"I didn't wish for them to be around while I work," he said calmly, squinting at me. "They have been sent on a surveillance mission."

Since I was perfectly happy that they were gone, I didn't argue the matter.

One day, I was sitting in the plant room, leaning against a tree and reading the copy of Gulliver's Travels that I had 'borrowed' from Knives when I heard thudding footsteps.

"Eva! Dangit, where did that creature go this time?"

Knives almost skidded past the door but managed to change his direction in time, instead shooting through it and across the room to where I was sitting.

"Come on, come on!" he said impatiently, pulling on my hands.

"Ack! Jeez, where's the fire, Knives?"

"Nevermind that, come on!"

I let him drag me to my feet and pull me across the room and down several corridors.

"Knives, would you please explain what's going on?" I panted.

"You are the luckiest person on this planet," was all he would say.

Without slowing down, Knives propelled me into the main computer room and shoved me to sit into the chair.

"There!" he said in a very smug tone, jabbing the screen. "Read that!"

Rolling my eyes at his current mannerism, I leaned forward and read the writing on the screen. It seemed to be an old segment from Wikipedia.

"Evangeline Kathrine Lenar." I read out loud. "was born April 21st, 1987, Conway, New Hampshire to Jonathan Kevin Lenar and Sarah Jennifer Lenar. The middle child in a family of five, she showed signs of her musical prowess at an early age…"

I trailed off, but continued to read. Knives waited quietly, arms folded smugly across his chest.

"First played at Carnegie Hall at the age of 25?" I said suddenly.

"Yes! That is exactly it, don't you see?" said Knives triumphantly. "You're twenty now, so if you play at Carnegie Hall at the age of 25, that means you must be able to get back!"

"I can't believe I have my own Wikipedia page," I said scrolling down. "And I can't believe that it survived this long. Heck, I can't even believe that this planet actually is the future for the human race."

Knives was pacing back and forth, explaining his brilliance to me. I half listened, but continued to read. Unfortunately, it was a relatively small fragment.

"Hey!" I cried out, cutting Knives off mid-sentence.

"What?" he asked in a faintly sulky tone.

"It was here Lenar met her future husband, a brilliant engineer and inventor, climbing the ranks of Hictay Inc," I read. Knives leaned over my shoulder to read along. "They were married six months later, and remained so for the rest of their lives. In a letter to her younger sister Margaret, Lenar wrote, 'I don't think we will ever be apart, for every time I see his face, I fall even more deeply in love with him'."

I grinned.

"Aww, that's so cute. But they don't say who he is, the document ends there," I sulked.

Knives was silent, a weird look on his face.

"Anyway," I said, turning around in the chair. "You're absolutely brilliant. I can't believe you managed to find this."

Knives turned red and stepped away from me.

"It wasn't anything," he said in his sub-Arctic tone. "The encryption was child's play."

"Encryption? Why did this have an encryption?"

"Because it's an important document being over 500 years old. They don't want it to be heavily trafficked."

"Okay…. That's just a tad weird. Still, you're brilliant. Now all that has to be done is to find out how to actually get home."

Knives nodded shortly. I stood up out of the chair and cracked my neck, yawning. He edged past me and went to sit down in front of the computer once more.

"Oh no you don't," I laughed, and grabbed his hand. "You've been working quite hard enough. Time for a break."

"But we're so close now," Knives protested, holding onto the desk to keep from being dragged out of his chair.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" I teased, tugging. "Come on Mr. Serious. Time for to relax and have some fun. All work and no play makes the Knives we know today."

"Don't ever try rhyming again," said Knives, still holding onto the desk.

"It wasn't that bad," I pouted.

"No, actually it was worse."

"Hey, do you know how to dance?" I asked suddenly, letting go of his hand. He eyed me warily.

"Yes…"

"Good, you can teach me!"

Knives did a double take.

"You have music literally flowing through through your psyche, and you can't dance?" he said incredulously.

"Well I know how to dance sort of. When I'm on my own. But I don't know how to dance with a partner."

"Forget it," snapped Knives, turning to the computer. "I'm not teaching you."

"Pleaaaase, Knivesu?" I asked, switching to my cute mode.

"No."

I leaned on him and poked my head over his shoulder, smiling prettily.

"Pretty please?"

He glared at me out of the corner of his eye.

"No. Get off of me."

Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Not until you promise you'll teach me!" I said in a singsong tone.

"Eva, you are the most annoying creature I have ever had the misfortune of knowing," said Knives shortly, standing up. My feet immediately left the floor, as I held on. Knives hit a key on the computer that I knew would start the queue of song files he had.

"Let go," he said shortly. "Let's get the lesson over with so I can get back to work."

I gave him a mischievous smile.

"I don't know, I'm a slow learner, this might take ages."

He gave me a cold look.

"It better not."

I rolled my eyes, unquelled by his icy exterior. I knew him too well to think that he might actually be mad at me.

"Count to four," he demanded.

"One two three four."

"Very good. That's all you need to know, can I get back to work now."

"Kniiiiives! Be serious!"

"I'm always serious."

I gave him a pouting look. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine. Fine!"

With a gentleness that contradicted his irritable tone, Knives pulled up my left hand and put it on his right bicep.

"You're a little short to reach my shoulder, so this will do."

I glared at him as he gave me an innocent look and put his right hand on my waist. Gathering my free hand in his, he stepped to the right, gently pushing me to take a step as well.

"One, two, three, four, okay? Just step as I do and don't even think about stepping on me."

I nodded, looking down at our feet. As we wound our way around the computer room, the music shifted from classic waltzes to the soft pop I had grown up with. I started slightly when I recognized one, nearly stepping on Knives in the process.

"What?" he demanded grumpily.

"Nothing. I just like this song."

"Well like it without stepping on me, would you?"

I smiled. Despite his snide comments and occasional protests, I knew Knives was enjoying himself.

"Hey, it's the Beatles!" I said happily as the song shifted once more.

"So it is," said Knives, pulling me closer so that we could move a little more smoothly to the faster tempo. I was quickly getting the hang of it and didn't have to look at my feet anymore.

"So come on back and see, just what you mean to me," I sang happily along. Knives raised an eyebrow.

"My dad was a big Beatles fan," I explained. "I know a lot of their songs."

"Oh I see," said Knives, grinning suddenly. Without breaking the beat, he dipped me and pulled me back up. I squeaked, then started laughing. Knives' grin widened.

A few songs later, Knives stopped.

"Okay, I think you know how to dance now, Eva," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly in a smile.

"What makes you say that?"

"You haven't stepped on me for the past five songs," he replied, letting go of me and taking several steps backwards. With a mischievous grin, I made a motion as if I was going to jump at him. Without blinking, Knives gave me his infamous 'don't even think about it' look. With a sigh, he sat down at the computer terminal.

"Go stay out of trouble, why don't you?"

"I always stay out of trouble, " I replied innocently.

"And I'm a saint."

"You are? You never told me, Your Holiness."

"Haha. I know you re-programmed the micro-oven to insult people every time the door is opened."

I shrugged.

"I was bored and it beckoned to me."

"I'm sure. Don't do it again. If your bored, grab a tomas,go into town, and get food."

"I can do that? You have a tomas?"

Knives sighed exasperatedly.

"Do you honestly think I would walk an hour and a half to get you a violin when I could cover the distance in half the time with a tomas?"

"Point taken… What about money?"

A leather wallet whizzed through the air, barely missing my ear.

"There's around $$60 in there. Get food. Not toys, got it?"

"Yes, Knives," I replied meekly, stooping over to pick up the wallet.

"Oh and one more thing," sighed Knives, motioning me over. I stuffed the wallet into a pocket and sauntered over.

"Take this," he said, holding up a tiny derringer.

"No!" I said, backing up quickly. "Those are used for killing people!"

Knives stood up and looked at me seriously.

"They're also used for protecting people, Eva. I'd really feel better if you had it."

I stared up at him, chewing on my bottom lip. He gazed seriously and intensely at me.

"Please, Eva," he said in a low tone. "If it makes you feel better, this is a perfectly pathetic gun that is nearly impossible to kill with when used by amateurs."

I looked down at the tiny weapon in his hand. Sucking in a breath through my teeth, I backed up again, shaking my head.

"I'm sorry Knives, but I really can't. It just doesn't seem right for me to have that on me."

The lines around the corners of Knives' eyes seemed to grow a little deeper. He gave a hissing exhale and rubbed his temples with a finger and thumb.

"You're going to send me to an early grave," he sighed. I looked at him guiltily. Very carefully, I placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry Knives. I'll be careful," I assured him.

He looked up at me wearily.

"You better," he was all he said.

Flashing a smile, I headed for the door. Just as I reached the hall, a thought suddenly struck me.

"Hey Knives?" I called, sticking my head through the doorway.

"What?" he grumbled, not looking up from where he was slouching in the chair.

"I just noticed, how come you're calling me Eva?"

He looked up with a glare.

"Would you prefer me to return to my previous names for you?"

I took a step back, waving my hands.

"No no.. Eva's good! I was just wondering…"

"I am because I want to."

He looked at me defiantly, daring me to object to this reason. I gave him a meek smile.

"Okay, fine by me. I'll be back soon!"

Knives grunted and waved a hand at me in a 'couldn't care less' manner. I smiled quietly at his ever-changing moods, and hurried to finish the task assigned me so I could get back and stop his worrying.

_**----**_

**hmm... yes... a little foreshadowing, but I won't tell you where or on what. because i'm evil like that buahahaha**


	18. The Last Battle

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

-Knives POV-

It had been over three hours.

I didn't like this at all.

It only takes 45 minutes to an hour on a tomas to reach the nearby town. How long could grocery shopping take in a little place like that? Not an hour, certainly. I paced the room agitatedly.

After another half-hour of pacing, there was still no sign of Eva, and perspiration had soaked through my shirt. Swearing under my breath about spiders who were too cocky for their own good and acted like they wanted to be killed, I flopped in the console chair and grimly watched the monitors over steepled fingers.

An endless loop of outside footage allowed me to scan the surrounding areas for the tomas and its burden. I scanned each shot carefully for anything; a dark spot, a cloud of dust, anything.

There.

I squinted my eyes and leaned toward the monitor, reassuring myself that it wasn't a figment of my imagination.

A lone tomas loped easily across the sandy ground, making it's precious burden bounce slightly with each stride. A smile of relief flickered briefly across my face. That woman was going to be in serious trouble once she got in shouting range.

Suddenly I spotted a dust cloud not too far behind Eva. Something twisted in the pit of my stomach. This was wrong, something had happened.

Only sparing a moment to grab my black .45 from the counter where I had left it, I jumped out of the chair and rushed from the room.

-Eva's POV-

I held grimly to the tomas' saddle, wishing it would go just a tad faster. I badly wanted to reach the safety of the spaceship before the cretins on my trail could catch up to me.

I had gotten the provisions Knives' had wanted without any difficulty, the hardest part being haggling over price. However, just as I was about to leave town, a group of men approached me and started getting somewhat frisky. After telling them to bugger off, I rode away. They, however, were quite persistent and I had yet to shake them, despite all of the amusing little detours I had taken.

A bullet whizzed past my ear, warning me that the patience of my pursuers was growing thin and that they were determined to capture me one way or another. Desperately, I urged the tomas to try and go a little faster. It made a displeased noise at me, but strained forward. Another bullet whizzed past, a third grazing my cheek and clipping off a few strand of hair from my bangs.

Another report was quickly coupled with a pained squeal from the tomas underneath me. It lurched forward drunkenly, still fighting to keep moving forward as the bullet did its work to the creatures heart. It's legs crumpled underneath it, pitching me forward against the hot, barren ground.

I bit my tongue against a cry of pain as the poor tomas landed heavily, trapping one of my legs underneath it. It gave one more anguished squawking groan before its eyes glazed over. I struggled violently to free myself, promising myself I would mourn the passing of the sweet beast once I had gotten myself out of the danger of joining it.

My pursuers were dangerously close by the time I succeeded in freeing myself. Several bullets buried themselves in the ground around me. I grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at the closest man. It thunked solidly against his collar bone, making him drop his gun from his numb hand. Without hesitating, I turned and ran for the Ark, ignoring the throbbing pain in my right leg.

It was then I saw a welcome sight. Running towards me was Knives, murderous intent obvious even at this distance. I choked back a sob of relief and ran right to him, pushing myself to go even faster.

Knives caught me in his arms and spun me so that he formed a shield between the two remaining men, and me just as another gunshot rang out.

"Idiot… I told you…"

Knives looked down at me, angry, worried, and happy all at the same time.

"Stay here," he hissed, pushing me down into a hollow formed by the wind. "And take this," he added, pushing something small and cold into my hands.

I looked down at the tiny derringer for a moment, then mutely wrapped my fingers around it. When I looked back up, Knives was gone, striding furiously toward the men. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I realized where the bullet from the last shot had landed. Crimson stained Knives' ribs and trickled down his back. Still he moved forward, as if oblivious to the pain.

The men, obviously sensing Knives' murderous aura, stopped what they deemed a safe distance. I couldn't exactly what they were saying, but from their tone, they were trying to reason with Knives. He remained silent, unholstering his .45 as he strode toward them. Obviously, he was not about to bargin with them or be reasoned with. The men apparently sensed this as well as they both aimed their guns at his head.

There was a moment of silence as both parties remained still. I could practically see Knives weighing his options and deciding the best mode of attack.

Afraid of the carnage I would undoubtedly see, I buried my face in my hands. Let the world call me a coward, but I did not want to see any of this.

Gunshots rang out, coupled with shouts and the pounding of feet. I remained curled up in the hollow, shaking, wanting to watch, but afraid of what I might see.

Silence.

It was as sudden and frightening as the gunshots had been.

Cautiously I pulled myself up and looked over the lip of sand. Knives stood fifty feet away, gun aimed between the eyes of the man I had disarmed. I stood up and walked forward.

"...ever again. If I find out you have, I will hunt you down and I will kill you."

Knives' sharp, cold voice rang out clearly. The man nodded vigourously, shuddering nervously at the cold barrel pressing against his head. Slowly, Knives pulled away and looked over at me. I was too far away to see his face clearly, but after a moments he started walking toward me.

He was badly hurt, blood staining half a dozen spots on his clothes. Still he kept walking toward me, his arms slowly raising as if asking to be held.

As I walked to Knives, motion behind him caught my eye. The man he had spared, had pulled a gun out of his jacket and was now shakily aiming it at Knives.

"Knives! LOOK OUT!" I shouted!

Knives half turned, just as a gunshot rang out in the air.

Time slowed. I ran forward as Knives fell, crimson blossoming from his chest.

I found myself pointing the derringer at the man's head. Hardly pausing to aim, I fired. The bullet clipped his temple, immediately rendering him unconscious. I threw the tiny gun to the side and fell to my knees next to Knives.

His breath was jagged and obviously difficult. The bullet had entered just an inch under the heart. A fatal shot, no matter who you were.

"E..va..." gasped Knives, struggling to focus on me.

"I'm here Knives, I'm here," I answered, struggling to keep my voice level. " Just stay still, you'll be all right."

Knives gave a laugh that quickly turned into a rasping cough.

"Even.. plants aren't that... durable..."

I stroked his hair back and straightened his jacket, trying to keep my hands busy so that he wouldn't see them shaking.

"Eva.. please do something.. for me..."

I nodded, the tears in welling in my eyes threatening to spill over.

"Of course. Anything Knives."

He reached up his hands to me. I understood and carefully pulled his head into my lap, tightly holding onto one of his hands.

"I only.. have a few minutes... Eva... I'm sorry.. I couldn't get you.. home..."

At this my tears over flowed and freely ran down my cheeks.

"Oh Knives.. you've done so much for me already..."

He blinked as a few tears hit his cheeks.

"Rain.." he murmured. Slowly his eyes focused on my face. "No... tears... Eva, are you crying.. for me?"

I started crying harder.

"Of course I'm crying! Knives, I don't want you to die!"

A peaceful smile slowly spread across his face and reached a hand up to gently brush my cheek. I caught it and pressed my face against it.

"How would have thought... someone is shedding tears.. over my death... I can't ask for anything more..."

Knives took a shuddery harsh breath, seeming to gather some strength.

"Want to know something?"

I nodded mutely, clinging to his hand, tears still pattering against his face.

Painfully he pulled himself up into a half sitting position. I quickly placed my arms behind his head.

Softly, he pulled my face to his, cool lips brushing across mine, like flower petals landing on your arm.

"I love you.. and will always.. love.. you..."

He softly exhaled, and his hand fell from my cheek, landing limply in the sand.

"Knives? No! KNIVES! KNIVES ,YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! KNIIIIIIIIIIIVES!"

My anguished cry rang out over the barren planet.

_**----**_


	19. Dreams

**The FINAL chapter gasp faint**

**I do not own Trigun**

-----

I floated in between planes, in complete darkness. Sounds from both the world of awareness and the world of dreams merged and fluxed until I couldn't tell which was which. I couldn't remember who I was or what my life had been. Had I been a virtuoso violinist, the middle child of a happy family, on a green lush world? Or had I been an orphan on a desert planet where might was right and people looked like people, but could be humans, insects, or even plants. Which was the dream and which was real? My groggy mind couldn't tell the difference as the visions fused into one mass of color and noise.

I cried out into the void as the noise reached an almost unbearable pitch and the images glowed painfully bright. I knew I was being pulled back into the world, whichever I belonged to, but I didn't want to go. Here it was safe; here I didn't have to face anything or anybody. Subconsciously, I knew that if I re-entered either one of the worlds I had seen I would have to face something horrible and nothing would ever be the same for me.

It felt as though my body was being ripped from the warmth of a bed and immediately plunged into an ice cold shower. My nerves screamed in protest, but I was unable to move any part of my body, to protect myself from the sensation. Voices fluctuated back and forth in volume, sounding garbled and tinny as if I was listening to a badly tuned radio.

"She's stirring! She's waking up!"

Who was she? Were the voices talking about me? Pink darkness obscured my vision. After a few moments, I realized I was staring at the insides of my eyelids. I willed them to open, and slowly they complied, stiff from the lack of use.

Faces swam fuzzily in my vision. An alien smell assaulted my nose, burning the sinuses with the urge to sneeze.

"Eva! You're awake! Can you hear me? Do you understand?"

A middle-aged woman was leaning over me. She was pretty despite the lines in her face, now deepened by her worried expression.

I groaned, my throat feeling dry. Everything was too bright, too harsh. I didn't want to be here. This wasn't where I belonged, I was sure.

"Whaa.."

My tongue moved thickly in my mouth, heavy and uncooperative. After a few swallows, I tried again.

"Where am I… Who are you?"

An expression of disappointment flickered across the lady's face.

"They said this might happen… I'm your mother, Eva. You're in the hospital."

It was getting easier to move and the sounds were slowly regaining their normal tones.

"Why?"

She gently took my hand. I had to resist the urge to snatch it back.

"You've been in a coma for almost a year, sweetie. The doctors said you might be confused at first, that there might be some gaps in your memory when you came to…"

At this point, the lady was quite overcome with tears and hugged me tightly. I half-heartedly hugged her back, uncomfortable. Despite what she claimed, I felt as though I didn't belong here, that I wasn't the daughter who had been in the hospital all this time. I couldn't think of who else I might be though, except maybe the orphan from the desert world.

Concerned with my current emaciated state, the doctors insisted that I stay in the hospital for a time. I wasn't fond of the idea, but knew better than to argue. My days were spent with tests, being fed tasteless food, and trying to sift through the fragments of my broken memory.

All evidence pointed to this being my home. A posse of people, all claiming to be friends or family all confirmed the story the lady claiming to be my mother had told me. I was slowly coming to accept this, but memories kept resurfacing that couldn't have happened if what they said was true. A battered spaceship, deserted towns being overtaken by sand, a man with a leather outfit resembling a space suit of sorts and ice blue eyes smiling gently at me, masses of feathers and light; all these images swirled in an endless loop, too solid and too vivid to be dreams. Sometimes I could almost hear the man's voice as he talked to me, gently rebuking me for something I had done.

Whether or not I liked it, whether or not I really belonged here, this was my home now. I decided I would try to forget the memories that were causing all the strife in my mind and concentrate on being the girl everyone claimed I was. It was the only way I would be able to get any peace and move on from this hospital.

Once I made this decision, I began recovering quickly. I quickly lost the sunken look and the color came back to my skin. Daily treatments with the physical therapist brought back my muscle tone. Within two weeks, I was able to move easily about the small room on my own.

It was the night before I was going to be released from the hospital. I had just woken suddenly from my slumbers, from either a noise or a dream. The night was warm and a soft breeze wafted through the partially open window. Other parts of the building were busy, but my hall was quiet.

I lay there with my eyes closed, trying to figure out what had woken me.

"Eva…"

My eyes snapped open. Sitting on the very end of the bed was the very man I had been trying to forget, looking exactly as I had remembered. Moonlight made his pale blond hair almost glow. His blue eyes glittered and a sad smile played across his lips.

"Hey there," he called quietly. "Do you remember me, or have you flushed everything from your mind?"

"Knives…" I said hesitantly.

He smiled encouragingly.

"That's right. You haven't completely forgotten then."

"It wasn't a dream…that desert."

"No," said Knives, shaking his head tiredly. "It wasn't."

"But I was an orphan... and now I have this family... They all assure me I've always been with them," I said, confused.

"You've always had them, best I know," smiled Knives reassuringly. "You never did tell me much about your home. You said there was no point since you didn't think you could get back."

I sat there silently for a few moments, trying to come to grips with what he had told me. He sat there patiently, arms folded across his chest.

"I remember a few things," I finally admitted. "I remember a fight in the middle of the desert. Men… tried to shoot me… And you…" I looked at Knives with an alarmed expression. "You jumped in front of it. You _died_." My tone was faintly accusing.

Knives gave me a weak smile and shrug. "That didn't happen for a while after they tried to shoot you actually."

"Did you actually die? Or did I just faint before you woke up? And if you're actually dead, what are you doing here?" I could hear my voice rapidly increasing in pitch.

With a sigh, Knives held out his hand to me. I looked at it for a moment then hesitantly put my hand in his. It was warm and reassuringly solid.

"I'm alive," he said quietly. "Or at least I am here. I think I might be dead in my world."

I felt myself tearing up.

"It's my fault!" I choked out. "If I hadn't been there… You won't ever see Vash again! If only I had never come at all!"

"Do you really mean that?" he asked seriously. "I'm glad you came to my world. I'm glad that I died and followed you here."

I looked at him curiously, wiping my cheeks with my free hand.

"I had nothing left there other than taking care of you," he said earnestly. "It's best if Vash and I are separated, we're too different. Because I died, I was able to follow you and enter somewhere I had no past so I could make myself any future I wanted. And besides…"

He trailed off, looking awkwardly at the ground. I watched him, waiting for him to finish his thought. Finally, he cleared his throat.

"Besides… I don't think… You probably don't remember what I told you before I died, but…I don't think I would have wanted a future without you," he said in an uncharacteristically small voice.

I stared at him, not believing what I was hearing.

"Do you mean that?" I finally squeaked out. Knives nodded, still looking down at the floor.

"But what about all those times you would yell or snap or even threaten me?" I asked.

A trace of red crawled across his cheeks.

"It's not like I was used to having a girl around, much less one I loved…" He said with something of his old bite.

I started laughing, I was so relieved. Everything that had been bothering me these past few weeks had been completely cleared up with one midnight visit from the last person I had ever expected to see. Ignoring Knives' faintly alarmed expression, I threw myself forward, hugging him tightly around the neck. He was wonderfully solid and warm; real.

"Eva," he said in a strangled voice. "I really can't breath…"

"I don't care," I said, still laughing. "You're here!"

"Not… if you… choke me… to death…I won't be…"

Reluctantly I let go and sat back. Knives gently squeezed my hand and stood up.

"I better get out of here before a nurse comes and throws me out," he said cheerfully. "I snuck in."

"Naughty," I waved a finger at him.

"Yeah, well…" He seemed completely unconcerned by his act of delinquency. "I'll see you, okay?'

"Promise?'

Knives paused at the door and looked back at me.

"Promise," he said with a grin, and slipped silently out the door.

"EVA!"

I was almost knocked off my feet as my little sister threw herself at me.

"Hi Mags."

"You remember!" she squealed happily, bouncing up and down while hugging me tightly.

"Yeah, I guess I do," I said with a smile, hugging her back. "A lot of it came back to me last night."

Maggie ran circles around me as I made my way to the front door, chattering happily about everything that had happened while I had been in a coma.

"Mrs. Watkins moved out of our spare room about a month ago, but guess what! We got a new renter just last week!" She chirped happily. "He's the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet! He's really smart and really good looking too!"

I was laughing at her bubbling voice, bouncing around me.

"If you aren't too tired, I really think you should come out on the back porch and meet him! He's usually there, and I just know you'll like him!"

I allowed Maggie to pull me down the hall to the back porch, ignoring my mother's call to take it easy.

"You wait here," Maggie chirruped, centering me right outside the porch door.

"Mr. Millions! I'd like you to meet my sister, Eva!"

The pale blond man sitting in the rocking chair slowly looked up from the book in his lap. Ice blue eyes twinkled mischievously at me.

"Hello Ms. Eva."

I decided it would probably be best to suppress the urge to throw myself at him gleefully.

There were children present after all.

_**----**_

_**heh heh heh...**_

_**yes so, I kept referring to chapter 18 as the last chapter. Know why? I wrote this one two months ago! That's right.. i wrote the ending while i was still in the middle.. bad bad me... but I just edited it a bit to fit what I had written, and there you go!**_

_**you didn't honestly think i would kill of poor Knives forever, did you? No way, I love him too much for that. I was honestly crying when I wrote about his death.. yes you may now shoot me for being such an awful fan girl ..**_

_**anyway, thank you all so much for reading this! All your wonderful reviews are what pushed me to finish this, so thank you!**_


	20. An Extra

**Because I love you people and because I had an idea, I present you all with a little fluff-filled epilouge! Enjoy!**

Epilogue

"Knivesu!"

I catapulted gleefully through his bedroom door and threw myself at the mound of blankets on the bed. An irritated groan underneath me told me I had succeeded in waking the plant.

"You better have coffee with you if you insist on waking me up at this un-godly hour," wafted a muffled, annoyed voice from between my hands.

"It's nine in the morning," I said with amusement.

The lump underneath me shifted, nearly knocking me to the floor. Ice blue eyes and mussy platinum blonde hair poked out of the blanket. The eyes blinked sleepily a few times, then fixed on me with a glare.

"I'm assuming that means you did not bring coffee with you as a peace offering,"

I shook my head, grinning. Knives sighed exasperatedly and pulled the covers back over his head.

"Aw, come on Knivesu! Get up! You promised you'd take me to the music festival today!"

"I remembered no such thing."

"Oh yes you do!" I smirked, tugging the blankets back off his face. "Come oooon!"

Knives fixed me with an even gaze, then yawned widely.

"Fine.. fine, I'm up. Now get off me."

I instead shifted so that I was sitting on his stomach. He raised an eyebrow while finger-combing back his hair.

"I'm getting mixed signals here," he said seriously. "You want me to get up, yet you are sitting on me, which makes it difficult to do so."

I grinned impishly and leaned forward. Knives gave me his patented "Don't even think about it," look, but I ignored it, kissing the tip of his nose anyway.

"What's the first thing you say to someone in the morning, Knivesu?"

"Why the hell do you call me Knivesu?"

"Nope, that's not it," I grinned.

Knives sighed in mock annoyance and pulled me down into a hug.

"Morning, Angel," he whispered in my ear, and softly kissed my forehead. "How did you sleep?"

"Good, how did you?" I replied cuddling my head against his neck.

"Good, until something heavy and noisy landed right in the middle of my stomach," Knives said, his voice shifting to a slightly teasing tone.

I stuck my tongue out at him and lightly socked his stomach. He grunted a little, but seemed unperturbed.

"Now go away so I can get dressed," he said, sitting up and pulling me with him.

"You tell your girlfriend of six months to go away?" I asked in mock horror, sliding off his lap.

"Yes." He said shortly, stretching his arms above his head.

"Are you shyyyyy?" I teased.

Knives gave me a glare and poked my ribs.

"Oh you aaaare!" I grinned. "Though I don't know why, since you sleep without a shirt on."

At that comment, Knives stood up out of bed and slung me over his shoulder. Despite my giggling protests and demands to be put down, he carried me to his door and deposited me neatly in the hall.

"I will be out in five minutes, so go make yourself useful somewhere else."

I saluted with my left hand and trotted down the hall to make him some coffee.

"Wasn't that just beautiful?" I sighed happily as Knives led me away from a group of musicians playing under a tent.

"It was fine," grumbled Knives, steering me around various people as I was still in a happy, music-induced stupor.

"Aw, whats the matter?" I cooed to him, squeezing the large hand that enveloped my own.

"Nothing," he said irritably.

"'Something is," I insisted, shifting so I could hug his arm. Knives looked down at me and one of his rare, gentle smiles spread slowly across his face. I smiled back up at him.

"Now what's the matter?" I pressed.

Knives scowled darkly at the tent we had just left.

"He watching you," he informed me flatly. "And had unclean thoughts."

"Who?"

"The fiddler."

"The guy with the ponytail?'

He nodded, wrapping a protective arm around my waist.

".. Eew…" I said after a moment of thought. "Creepy dude… still.. That's what you get for reading peoples minds," I said to Knives, nudging his ribs with my elbow. He shrugged, noncommittally.

"Is it wrong to be protective of someone I care for?" he asked, with an expression that, if it were anybody but Knives, would have been called a pout.

"Nope," I said cheerfully. "It's cute actually."

Knives gave me a look and steered me to the food booths. I knew he hadn't any breakfast other than a cup of coffee and was probably pretty hungry. Right on cue I heard his stomach growl quietly. I started giggling, earning another look from Knives.

Once Knives had been sated, we traveled up and down the paths of the festival, visiting one tent and then another. Knives seemed to enjoy himself, but I noticed he was getting more and more serious as the day wore on.

"Knives, are you okay?" I finally asked when I caught him staring at a soda can while I bought Maggie a bracelet. He jumped at little, but quickly looked at me, blinking rapidly.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know, but you've been acting kind of weird all day."

Knives looked down at me seriously for a few moments, then sighed.

"Actually, I wanted to.. to talk with you…"

"Um, okay," I said, slightly confused. "What about?"

"Not here," he muttered. I noticed his cheeks starting to go pink.

He looked quickly away and grabbed my hand. We quickly wove our way through the crowds and down a few paths in the nearby park until we reached a place that Knives apparently thought was suitable.

"Sit," he ordered, gesturing to a part bench. I obediently sat down on the half that wasn't being eaten by the lilac bush and looked up expectantly up at him.

Knives gazed at me for a minute, very serious, his mouth hidden by a half-clenched hand.

"Eva," he finally said. "How long have we known each other?"

I thought for a moment.

"About two years," I finally replied.

He nodded, and fell silent again. I watched him nervously.

Suddenly he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking to the side.

"Geez, I don't even know how to say this, but…"

"Say what?" I asked cautiously.

Knives looked back at me, hand still in his hair. I saw his jaw clench briefly, when suddenly he kneeled down in front of me. I squeaked in surprise.

"Eva, would you grant me the honor of being your husband?"

I stared at him speechless, my mouth hanging open like an idiot.

"Wha-a-at?" I finally stuttered.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, eyes flickering back and forth on my face, brow wrinkled slightly in worry.

I squealed.

"YES! Yesyesyesyesyes!" I cried, launching myself at him.

He landed hard on his rear, sputtering slightly as I hugged him tightly.

"Are you serious?" he gasped.

I nodded vigorously, burying my head in his jacket. I felt his arms wrap around me tightly as he buried his face in my hair.

"Thank you, Eva…" I heard him mutter. "I never deserved this, but thank you…"

He kissed the side of my head and then pulled me off him a little.

"I guess you can have this now," he said with a smile I had never seen before. Slowly, he pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and opened. A diamond ring glinted quietly at me. Very gently, Knives pulled it out of its plush nest and slipped it over my left ring finger. I stared at it silently for a moment. With a stifled sob, I re-buried my head in his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked, rubbing the back of my head.

"Y-yes!" I hiccupped. "I-I'm so s-s-sorry! I'm ju-ust so h-happy!"

Knives chuckled quietly and pulled me to my feet.

"I swear I will always love you and I will always protect you," he said seriously, brushing hair out of my face. I smiled brightly up and him, wiping my cheeks.

"Come on," I said happily. "Let's go give Mom a heart attack."

Knives laughed at that and tugged my chin up. I smiled sweetly, and met his lips with mine.

I think I can stand a lifetime of his kisses.


End file.
